Situations from their lives
by AkuDemyfan
Summary: CaH Side Quest. Dark and Link live through lot of little things between bigger quests of their lives. Usually the situations are easy and funny but there are times when things can get very harsh. So, let's see what the duo has lived through.
1. Haircut

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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This side story for _CaH_ is something that will be updating at Mondays when _LfH_ is not. ;) So, you got a story for each Monday... Hopefully. ^^;

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**Summary:** Dark has had very bad experiences of word _haircut_... And now Link wants to do such thing to him!

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**SITUATIONS FROM THEIR LIVES**

CHAPTER 1: Haircut

"NO! Don't you dare!" Dark screamed as he ran around the room, jumped to the bed and half crawled, half ran to the other side. He turned around in a flash and stared at Link in near fear. "You will _not_ touch my hair!" The dark Hylian nearly growled.

Link sighed for the umpteenth time and partly leaned against the table. He had his right hand in his hair and in his left hand was scissors. "Dark. Just calm down, will ya?" The Hero stated as calmly as he could even though he was losing his temper at there. "It's not that bad. Just a simple haircut. Okay?" He continued and started to make his way towards Dark.

"_NO!_" The dark Hylian shrieked and backed to the wall. He looked once around himself before he pulled out his knife. "I'll do it myself!" Dark shouted bit fearfully and brought his knife into his hair behind his neck. He was breathing fast while being fully uncertain of what he was supposed to do.

Link stopped on the second Dark pulled the knife out. "WOW! Easy there!" He half shouted and backed back to the table. "Just calm down and put the knife off." Link half begged while trying to make calming actions with his hands. "We'll clear this out, okay? Here, I put the scissors off..." He continued and carefully and slowly put the scissors onto the table. After that he raised his hands into surrender. "Let's just talk... It'll be fully alright, Dark. I promise." Link half whispered while keeping his voice calm and soothing.

Dark looked fully uncertain but soon he lowered his knife down and started to pace a bit. He ran his free hand through his hair and tried to make some sense into the situation. Link had told him about few weeks ago that he needed a _haircut_ and ever since he had been avoiding the chances for such situation as much as possible... Until today... Link just had gotten him surrounded and there was no chances for him to avoid the situation anymore.

"Come on, Darky. Just put the knife off and I'll explain what haircut means." Link talked very gently and tried to look as unthreatening as possible. After a while longer Dark finally sighed heavily and put the knife away. "That's good. Now, come on. Let's sit on the bed and I'll explain it all. Okay?" The Hero continued calmly and started to make his way towards the bed. Dark sighed again and sat down to the bed. Very soon Link crawled next to him.

The first thing the Hero did was to hug Dark. "It's okay, Dark. I give you my word for it." He whispered before taking a hold of Dark's hair and pulling it over the dark Hylian's shoulder. "Here. Look at this." Link continued and carefully started to separate the strands of hair until he had only couple of those in his hand. "See this?" He inquired and showed the split ends of the strands. "This is the reason you need a haircut. It is just to clean things off and give your hair better chances of growing longer again." Link explained before he carefully pulled a bigger group of strands into his hair. "I'll only cut about this amount off. Okay?" He stated and showed about couple of inches long area. "Definitely not more than that." Link reassured.

Dark had sat there in full silence and listened to Link while watching him work with his black hair. "You promise?" Dark inquired very quietly. Link nodded confidently.

"I swear it." The Hero replied calmly. Dark sighed but nodded. "Okay, let's get to the bathroom and get this done. It's over faster than you think." Link reassured with a small smile. The dark Hylian _definitely_ wasn't believing that but he _did_ trust the Hero so he made his way into the bathroom and sat down close to the sink. Link followed him very soon with the scissors.

Dark closed his eyes and nearly flinched at each time the scissors cut some of his hair away. "Is it done yet?" He inquired in near whine after each and every clip. Link sighed once again and shook his head.

"No, it's not done yet. I'll let you know when it's done." He replied while desperately trying to stay calm. Yet, that answer went straight through the dark Hylian without staying at all inside his head. He kept inquiring over and over again if Link was ready with the work yet. Eventually the Hero put the scissors down to the sink and let it clang loud enough to let Dark understand that part. "It's done." Link stated as calmly as he could.

Dark blinked few times in confusion. Right after that he pulled his hand through his hair before already standing up while frowning even more. He checked the mirror that was over the sink and frowned even deeper before sighing and relaxing. "You didn't..." The dark Hylian whispered and sat down back to the small chair. "Thanks... And sorry..." Dark half whispered and slumped a bit nervously.

Link sighed fully relieved and cleaned the place before half sitting and half leaning against the sink. "So... Willing to explain what you have against a simple haircut?" He inquired calmly.

Dark chuckled bit nervously while scratching the back of his head. "Um... Yeah, well..." He started before sighing and shrugging. "Years ago when I lived at Ganon's Castle few of the monsters decided that I needed a haircut. I... I didn't know what it meant and well..." Dark started but sighed heavily and dropped his gaze into his hands. "They cut my hair... Hellishly. Left it fully odd and..." He trailed off and raised his gaze up to Link. "You know how the scientist looks when he's got something gone wrong with his work and it blows that odd colored smoke up and messes up his hair? Well... My hair wasn't far from that... Except for having less of hair, though..." He continued sorrowfully.

Link blinked few times in both surprise and sorrow. "So they _really_ messed up your hair?" He inquired and Dark just simply nodded. "Damn. No wonder you weren't eager for it." Link half whispered.

"That wasn't all, though..." Dark continued quietly and dropped his gaze down again. "I tried once to cut my own hair in hopes of getting off of the shitty work they did but... Let's just say that it made it even worse... They _really_ destroyed it... Took about a year before my hair could be even _called_ as hair." He explained and shrugged. "But I think they just hated me anyways back then..." Dark half mumbled.

Link sighed sorrowfully and hugged the dark Hylian tightly. "Well, I'm _never_ going to do anything of such. It's a promise." He whispered but very soon smiled, let go of Dark and came in front of him. "Now, let me tell you a little story from my childhood."

Link sat down to the floor in front of Dark and started to talk: "As you know me and Mido weren't on the best of basis. So, at this one summer Mido put some sap into my hair and..." The Hero trailed off when Dark gave fully confused look at the new word. Link chuckled bit nervously. "Um... Sap is very sticky thing that the trees use as their "blood" in a way." He explained as well as he could and once the dark Hylian nodded his understanding, Link continued: "So, Saria tried her best of getting it off of my hair but it wasn't much of help. Eventually we had to cut it off which left my hair quite... Off... Probably more or less what you had by those freaks. And, well... I hid my hair under my cap which is probably the reason I keep the cap quite a much. It just became a habit, I think." The Hero chuckled a bit nervously but continued his story very quickly. "Anyways, I went for revenge. Not by sap but differently. I kinda kept pushing Mido into the small stream of water whenever I had the chance and, well... During rainy times, I did few holes into Mido's house's roof. Sure, I got wet but Mido had it harder. He had to clean his house and all."

Link was bit of grinning once he ended his story. Dark gave a bit of a sorrowful smile. "Thanks... I think..." The dark Hylian whispered and before he got to say anything more, the Hero already hugged him.

"Don't worry. The hair will grow back in no time. And you'll get to grow it longer now." Link replied. Dark nodded and relaxed. He had known that the Hero wouldn't do anything to harm him but he just had bad memories about the whole action and that just took him over. Luckily things were cleared out for him.

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	2. Frogs

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

-.-.-.-.-.-

This side story for _CaH_ is something that will be updating at Mondays when _LfH_ is not. ;) So, you got a story for each Monday... Hopefully. ^^;

-.-.-.-.-.-

**Summary: **Dark is enjoying of a nice warm summer day when some strange sound starts to bother him. Once he spots the offending creature, he's willing to have a better check on it. Is Link able to help him to catch the "enemy"?

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**SITUATIONS FROM THEIR LIVES**

CHAPTER 2: Frogs

Link and Zelda were sitting on a bench at the country yard of the Castle. They both were enjoying the nice and warm summer day. Dark wasn't far from them. He was lying on the grass in the close by tree's shadow. While the Hero and the Princess were talking about one thing or another once in a while, the dark Hylian was just happy for having the rights to be _that_ close to them. Sure, it had been Link's work but nonetheless, Dark was enjoying his time and safety.

Suddenly a quiet sound of hopping caught the dark Hylian's notion. His right ear twitched a bit at the sound and he opened his eyes to find the one causing such sound. Sure, he had heard it before and Link had explained it to him but it had been long time since he had heard it last time. Slightly frowning, Dark carefully rolled to his stomach and searched for the one causing the odd sound.

After a short while he finally found the little creature. _A frog_. Dark ginned a bit as he quietly left to get closer to the small greenish animal. Before he had a chance to catch the hopper, the frog already left for a "run" and the dark Hylian followed right after it.

Zelda frowned as she watched Dark's going which was mix of running and slight jumps. "What is Dark doing?" She inquired quite confused. Link chuckled and grinned a bit when he noticed the dark Hylian's behavior.

"Besides enjoying summer?" The Hero inquired calmly. The Princess only nodded as she kept her gaze in Dark. Link chuckled again as he too watched the dark Hylian's doings. "Learning." He finally replied. Zelda was even more confused and she glanced at the Hero who had quite happy and content look on his face.

Suddenly the frog found its way into close by pond and dived deep and out of sight. Dark almost jumped after it but instead of full dive he only got his left hand and almost fully his left arm wet. "Damn it..." He muttered quite disappointed as he tried to find the frog again.

Link chuckled and shook his head but he rose up from the bench and walked to the dark Hylian. "What are you doing?" He inquired calmly and sat down next to him before already starting to carefully dry Dark's white shirt.

"I tried to catch _that_." The dark Hylian replied and pointed towards the frog. Link glanced at the offending creature and nodded. Dark sighed and pulled his arm off of the Hero's hold once his sleeve was dry. "Thanks..." He half mumbled and started to try and figure out a way to get to the frog.

"You're not going to get it while it's in water. Frogs are faster on water than on dry land." Link explained and Dark just nodded while slumping a bit.

"I know that..." He mumbled and laid down to the ground while still keeping his gaze in the frog. "How long until it comes up?" The dark Hylian inquired while feeling bit hopeful. Link's only answer was a simple shrug.

Zelda watched the scene quite confused before already facepalming. "This won't end well..." She mumbled and shook her head. Yet, she didn't leave anywhere. Instead, the Princess kept watching how the situation would unfold from here.

"You know... I don't know if I've told you this before but..." Link started as he laid down on the ground too. "I chased frogs too when I was kid." He stated and chuckled a bit. "It was quite fun. Though, I think the frogs are actually scared of us. You know... The size difference and all..." The Hero continued and shrugged a bit before grinning. "And I doubt that frog to be the only one around here."

Dark listened quietly to Link's explanation and nodded once in a while. "I... I haven't seen others..." He finally replied bit quietly. The Hero nodded and looked once around them.

"Yeah, they like to hide well..." Link answered before he returned his gaze into the frog that Dark had been chasing. Soon the Hero started to grin. "Maybe I can get it up from there..." He stated and stood up. Dark watched how he rounded pond and came quite close to the frog. "Here, right?" Link inquired and pointed towards the area he believed the frog to be in. The dark Hylian nodded as he still saw the frog while the weeds and whatnot was blocking the Hero's view.

Link nodded back and took up several small rocks. He grinned to Dark before he already dropped the first one close to the frog. That got the creature to move forward. As the dark Hylian kept eye on the creature, he managed to tell where it was and the Hero started to force the small frog forward. He didn't leave any of other way for the animal than to get to shallower area and eventually off of the water.

Link didn't have the chance to catch the frog but at least it was on dry ground now. Dark ran around the pond and started to chase the creature again. This time the Hero was helping and soon they cornered the poor animal.

The dark Hylian took the frog up _very_ carefully and sat down to the grass. Link was bit worried for the animal since he didn't exactly know how Dark would react to it... Plus, there was the fact of the dark Hylian's strength in magic which slightly implied that Dark might be actually much stronger than Link in overall too.

Dark kept his gaze fully in the small animal. He very carefully checked the frog's legs, back, stomach and about everything else. Yet, the dark Hylian did _nothing_ that could harm the creature even slightest bit.

Link watched silently the whole situation. He had heard Dark talk in that _Shadowy Language_ couple of times before but he still couldn't understand it. Yet, by now he had learned that the dark Hylian's eyes changed a bit depending on which language he'd be talking. And Dark was currently quietly whispering something in _Shadowy_.

**"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe. I just wanna see you."** Dark whispered very calmly and quietly. Surprisingly the frog stayed still and let the dark Hylian do as he pleased. Eventually Dark walked back to the pond and carefully put the animal to the shore. **"Thank you."** The dark Hylian whispered before he fully let the frog go.

**"Don't do that _ever_ again without giving a warning."** The frog replied with that croaking sound of its. Dark blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head nervously.

**"Um... Sorry 'bout that..."** He replied apolitically. The frog just sighed before jumping back into the pond. Dark sighed and relaxed. He closed his eyes and once he opened them, they were fully normal again. The thing was, that whenever Dark was talking in _Shadowy Language_ his eyes were gleaming.

Link had followed the dark Hylian back to the pond but stayed silent whole time. "Sooo... What was that all about?" He inquired carefully. Dark chuckled bit nervously and shrugged.

"Just saying my sorries for freaking him out and all that..." The dark Hylian replied. He had already explained to Link long ago about the fact of every creature talking in _Shadowy Language_ but understanding it was bit of harder since each of them had their ways of talking it.

Link nodded and calmed down fully. _"I should've known Dark wouldn't do anything to harm the frog..."_ He scolded himself about the lack of trust on the situation. "So... Did you learn anything?" The Hero continued with much lighter tone of voice.

Dark shrugged. "Maybe something. Not sure." He replied and lay down to his back. Link smiled and mimicked him fully. "Shouldn't you be with her?" The dark Hylian inquired quietly. The Hero chuckled, carefully moved closer to Dark and smiled.

"And what? Not spend time with my brother?" Link replied while grinning. "Nah. I'd rather spend the rest of the day with you. More fun on that part." He continued happily and turned to his side while watching the dark Hylian. "Anything else that I can help you to catch?" Link inquired with a wide grin.

Dark had slightly blushed at first but he calmed down very quickly. He did enjoy having Link that close to him and being calm and collected with him. Once the Hero offered his help, the dark Hylian frowned a bit and turned to look at Link. Yet, soon that frown turned into a slight smile and from there he started to chuckle until he was already laughing.

Link's grin widened until he already joined Dark in laughing. "You really willing to help me catch other creatures?" The dark Hylian eventually asked after having calmed down.

Link nodded eagerly. "Of course! Just name it and we'll get it!" He replied eagerly. Dark started to grin eagerly and nodded.

"Just give a sec and I'll figure out what I want to see next." The dark Hylian answered fully happy about the situation. He knew that with Link he could get close to any creature around Hyrule.

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	3. The Maze

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

-.-.-.-.-.-

This side story for _CaH_ is something that will be updating at Mondays when _LfH_ is not. ;) So, you got a story for each Monday... Hopefully. ^^;

-.-.-.-.-.-

**Summary: **Link has come back from a mission that was supposed to be easy but was far from that. He doesn't get more than hour or so of sleep when Dark already wakes him up quite harshly. What is the reason for the dark Hylian's eagerness?

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**SITUATIONS FROM THEIR LIVES**

CHAPTER 3: The Maze

Sun was just starting to rise up when Link walked into his and Dark's room. He very quickly washed up and changed clothes before already half stumbling to the bed. The Hero had been on the outskirts of Hyrule on a mission. It had been meant to be easy and fast but it ended up being complicated and long. On the second his head hit into the pillow, he was already asleep.

Dark had been up through most of the night while worrying over Link. He had been pacing in the room for hours. _"Where _is_ he?!"_ The dark Hylian kept thinking over and over again. He had _wished_ to be with the Hero on his small task but the truth was that Link had let him sleep instead of waking him up. Sure, he had left a short note but he had claimed to be back long before evening... Which didn't happen.

The dark Hylian had finally laid down to the bed and just stared at the window for several hours. Rest he kept changing his position while his worry just rose. Eventually, not knowing _when_ it happened, he fell asleep. All curled up once again but surprisingly without nightmares this time around.

It wasn't more than an hour or two from Link's return when Dark stirred. He yawned and sat up on the bed. The dark Hylian smiled happily when he found Link from next to him. _"Glad he's back..."_ Dark thought and got up very carefully from the bed so he wouldn't bother the Hero. Yet, even if the dark Hylian had been jumping on the bed, it wouldn't have gotten him to stir too much.

Dark made his way to the bathroom as silently as he could, washed up and changed clothes. He was actually grateful for seeing Link still asleep as he came out of there. The dark Hylian wondered for a while about leaving the room but decided against it. Instead he walked to the window and looked out.

Dark's eyes widened in full bewilderment when he saw the maze in full green with bright red dots here and there. "_LINK!_ YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!" The dark Hylian screamed fully eager and excited. He turned towards the Hero and started to do anything and everything to wake him up while nearly begging him to get up.

Link groaned nearly angrily but he finally opened his eyes. Dark was fully hyper and he half dragged the Hero up from the bed. "You gotta see this! You _gotta_!" The dark Hylian almost shouted as he pushed Link towards the bathroom.

"_Fine!_ Fine! I'm coming! Sheesh..." The Hero grumbled and went to change clothes. Dark was pacing in their main room nearly whole time and once in a while inquiring if Link was already ready. _"What the hell has gotten him so out of it?"_ The Hero thought angrily. _"And why in Goddesses names he can't let me sleep!? I've slept only, what, hour or two? Gah! Thought, he'd let me sleep like I let _him_ sleep!"_ Link kept on thinking quite angrily as he was nearly dragged out of their room and towards the country yard.

Eventually they came out of the castle and Dark nearly pushed Link in front of him while being fully excited. "Check it!" He shouted as he stood behind the Hero and had his hands on Link's shoulders. The Hero groaned and shook his head but finally looked towards the area the dark Hylian was showing him.

Link's eyes widened in bewilderment as he stared at the maze in full health. "W... what?" He whispered very quietly before same kind of excitement and glee got a grip of him. "IT WORKED! It freaking worked! _YES!_" The Hero screamed out, turned around and embraced Dark fully before already swirling couple of times around while half dragging the dark Hylian along.

Dark was laughing and letting Link lead their little dance like movement. "I told you you'll want to see this." He stated knowingly. The Hero laughed and hugged the dark Hylian tightly.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks." Link half whispered fully happy about the situation. "Want to take a look in?" The Hero inquired after he let go of Dark. The dark Hylian nodded eagerly and followed Link into the maze.

They walked this and that way in the green maze. Dark admired nearly each and every flower he found but surprisingly Link let him do exactly that. He didn't dare to rush the dark Hylian. Not when the maze was back to its former glory. _"Just you wait, Zelda... You won't believe this at all..."_ He thought happily.

After nearly an hour of walking they finally reached the mid-area of the maze. The small fountain had water in it and few small statues were bringing new water into it whole time. Dark half ran to it and leaned over it. For once he wasn't scared of being so close to deep water. Link followed slower and sat down to one of the benches. "This place... It's beautiful..." The dark Hylian almost whispered as he turned around to look at the Hero and sat down to the edge of the fountain.

Link nodded. "It certainly is." He replied calmly while actually being fully happy that Dark had dragged him out of the bed for this. "So... You know roses, right?" The Hero inquired carefully.

The dark Hylian frowned a bit but suddenly pointed towards one of the red flowers on the maze's walls. Link nodded. "Exactly. That's one of the roses. There's lot of other colors for these flowers but each of them have one thing in common. _Thorns_. If you're not careful, you'll get stung by the sharp edges of their stalk." The Hero explained carefully.

Dark frowned a bit and tilted his head to side as he worked through Link's words. Soon he stood up and walked closer to the Hero before already sitting down to the soft grass and looking up to Link. "What other flowers are there?" The dark Hylian inquired slightly confused.

Link took once a deep breath and started then to explain all he knew about flowers. It wasn't much but he did know the basic ones and he tried to describe the flowers as well as he could. Dark listened very carefully and nodded once in a while but he stayed silent as long as the Hero gave his explanation.

Once Link was ready, the dark Hylian still stayed silent. "You wouldn't mind if I take few hour nap? I didn't really sleep last night." The Hero inquired while feeling slightly hopeful. Dark just simply nodded before already laying down to his back on the grass and staring into the sky. Link yawned, laid down to the bench and took as good position as possible before already falling asleep.

After a while Dark folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. He didn't fall asleep but it was much easier for him to concentrate into the surrounding sounds and think through all Link had just told him. The dark Hylian listened to the birds, small bugs and calm wind. He hadn't felt this relaxed for a long while so he fully enjoyed this rare situation.

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	4. Red Earring

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

-.-.-.-.-.-

**Summary: **Dark has left to investigate the surroundings of Market Place and ends up in trouble. Link heads straight for his help on the second he realizes that the dark Hylian has gotten himself into a hard situation.

**Warning:** Dark will be hurt _badly_. And Link will _seriously_ lose his temper at there. ^^; If you don't want to read what Link does, then just skip the two longer parts of _italics_. ;) Um... Don't hate me for having hurt Dark! D= I'm feeling bad enough for it already. T.T

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**Situations from their lives  
><span>**

CHAPTER 4: Red Earring

Dark had left the castle early in the morning while Link was still asleep. It was bit more safer that way since there weren't so many of people around at so early of the morning. And the dark Hylian wanted to see the Market and its surroundings bit more. He had been doing short walks now and then but slowly those became longer and longer. And with each of walk he learned a bit more of the surroundings of the castle.

Dark was checking one of the back alleys of the Market when he heard talking. He got curious about the situation and so he started to make his way towards the sounds. The dark Hylian stayed as much out of sight as possible since he didn't know what the situation would be or if he should take any of contact into it. Yet, the closer he came to the sounds, the more clear the situation became.

Dark grit his teeth and wondered if he should take his sword out or use his knife. There seemed to be at least two persons causing trouble for one or two victims. He wasn't fully sure but he certainly didn't like it at all. _"No matter how much people hate me, I'm not leaving them in trouble."_ He thought and finally rounded the last corner. "HEY! Leave them alone, you jerks!"

There was two victims, a mother and a child. The woman kept the kid behind her and backed away when Dark came into the start of the short alley. The three guys turned around and smirked. "You honestly think you can take on us, freak?" One of them asked while chuckling cruelly. "Come and try!" He continued and pulled out a knife. His comrades followed suit and pulled out their weapons too which were two knives and a sword.

Dark was bit startled about the weapons but he wasn't going to back off. He tried to calm down as he decided to rely on his knife. The guys laughed at him and one of them shook his head. "You're an idiot if you think you can fight us with a _knife_." He mocked evilly. The dark Hylian just shrugged and started to walk towards them. "Get him!" The guy screamed and left for an attack

As the leader took up on attacking first, the two others followed very quickly. Dark started to run towards them but before the collision, he hit to the ground, slid forward and knocked the first guy to ground. The dark Hylian stood back to his feet very quickly, avoided the two knives that were struck downwards towards him before he already had to avoid the sword. The movement got him behind the duo which gave Dark a chance to kick the first guy, whom had the knives, into back of his knees to get him to crash into the ground. By then he had to avoid the sword again but this time he struck his knife against it and moved forward. Dark took a grip of the guy's free arm and moved him towards left while keeping his knife against the sword to keep the weapon off of him. The guy stumbled over his comrade who was still trying to get up from the ground.

"This was just easy little show. If you guys want an actual fight, then come at me." The dark Hylian stated calmly as he stood between the attackers and the victims. He swirled the knife a bit as he waited for the trio to make their choice. The woman had backed into the corner and kept her child behind her as she watched the situation both frightened and bit awed. "Unless you want actual knife wounds I highly suggest to get the hell away from here." Dark continued sternly.

The trio stood up and glanced at each other. "This isn't over." The leader growled but hightailed out of there with his comrades right behind him. Dark chuckled and shook his head while pocketing the knife.

"It's safe now. I suggest to stay out of this kind of areas." He said as he turned to face the mother and child. The woman only nodded but didn't do or say anything. Dark sighed sorrowfully. "You guys should leave before they decide to come back. Stay safe." He continued before already made his way out of there since he realized to be scaring them even more than that group of bad guys had.

The woman watched him leave both startled and confused. _"That, what is said of him, is full lies."_ She thought, shook her head and started to half drag her child out of the place. _"He didn't do a thing to harm us nor did he harm those thugs. He only fought them off to save me and my child... He deserves better treatment."_

Dark was trying to find his way out of the back alleys but so far he had only crashed up with dead ends over and over again. He was fully lost in there and no-one was eager to help him _at all_. In all reality those who pointed a direction only brought him into another dead end.

The trio hadn't gone far from the alley they had fought with Dark. The leader wanted revenge and he very quickly formed a plan. When the dark Hylian left the alley, the trio started to follow him. Eventually, after the fifteenth dead end, the trio came at him.

Dark had been fully in his thoughts so he hadn't noticed the followers. It was just a feeling of something being off that caused him to look behind himself... Only to see the rusty pipe coming towards his head. The next thing was that he hit hard backwards into the wall before already crashing into the ground as the world went black around him.

The dark Hylian woke up harshly by a strike into his stomach. "Well, look who's awake." Came a snide statement before the leader of the trio crouched down right in front of Dark's eyesight. "Not so grand now, huh." The guy continued cruelly before already smirking as his eyes fell into the earrings. "And here I thought you wouldn't have anything worth of stealing..." He said and started to play a bit at other one of the earrings.

Dark growled and sat up much straighter to get his face away from the bad guy. He tried to get up and away but his hands were tied behind a thick bar behind him. "Keep your hands off of me." The dark Hylian half snarled and tried to kick the guy off of him just to find them tied to his side and connected into the area where his hands were to prevent him from kicking.

The trio laughed as the leader shook his head. "You don't get it, do you?" The guy half whispered and took out a knife. "You're not leaving this place alive." He continued and brought the knife to Dark's throat. "And I'll take what I want." The leader stated as his other hand returned to the earring. "Which means that I fancy this ring here... Yet... Before I take what I want, I want bit of fun..." The guy nodded and the duo walked next to him. "Time to play." The leader snickered.

Link was getting worried since he hadn't seen even slightest notion of Dark for whole day. He knew that the dark Hylian liked to investigate the areas but he would've come back to the castle _at least_ few times by now. Suddenly he gasped and took a grip of his side in pain. "The hell...?" The Hero wondered until another strike followed the first one very quickly. Link gasped again but that's when it dawned to him fully. _"DARK!"_

The Hero ignored the pain as he ran out of the castle and into the Market. He took off into the closest alley and followed the strengthening feeling that he had learned to trust in this kind of situations. Very soon his road led him into rundown old house.

Dark was panting and he grit his teeth every time the trio punched or kicked him. He was _not_ going to scream. "I think that's enough." The leader said and crouched down in front of the dark Hylian again. "Now it's time I take what I want." He continued, took a grip of Dark's right ear's earring while taking very harsh grip of the dark Hylian's head from the jaw to keep him from moving his head. "This won't take long." The guy stated as he gave few simple tugs of the earring and watched how Dark's reaction turned from anger into fear as he closed his eyes tightly. "You like this earring?" The leader inquired before already chuckling cruelly. "Well, you won't be seeing it anymore." He continued and gave very strong and sharp pull on the ring.

Dark screamed in full pain as the ring was ripped off of his ear. While the guy stood up and his followers were laughing, the dark Hylian was gasping in both shock and pain and staring wide eyed at the floor in front of him. The leader admired his newest item without caring about the blood in there. Yet, very soon the guy started to grin wickedly. "You know... Why not taking the other one too, huh?" Dark shivered and closed his eyes tightly in fear.

"_NO WAY IN HELL!_" Link screamed as he crashed into the room and attacked against the leader straight away. He had heard enough as he had been making his way up to Dark's help. The Hero had his sword and shield with him along with most of his weapons but right then and there he couldn't care less about them. For once he was ready to take full revenge by _bare hands_.

Dark shot his eyes open on the second he heard Link's voice. He was fully startled when the Hero attacked on full force and very fiercely against the thugs. Yet, that got him to work even harder in getting himself freed. The lucky part was that the dark Hylian was quite good with getting himself freed from different kind of shackles and ropes. It didn't take long before he untied his hands, took out his knife and got his legs freed. His ear was bleeding and itching but he tried to ignore it as much as he could while twitching his ear to do at least _something_ about it. Yet, he knew that it probably was _very_ bad idea to do so.

"LINK!" Dark screamed out on the second he got to his feet. The Hero turned around to realize that one of the trio was coming at him with a plank. Before Link could either avoid or block the attack, the dark Hylian had already crashed into him to push him off of the harm's way.

"_NO!_ DARK!" Link shouted in thorough bewilderment as the strike hit into Dark. The dark Hylian stumbled and gasped but before he managed to get himself ready, the next strike came and slammed him against the bar where he had been tied into. After that things went black around him once again.

The next time Dark came to, he was lying on a bed. He groaned and sat up slightly just to gasp in pain. His head was sore, his side was hurting and his ear was both throbbing and itching. The dark Hylian laid back down while slowly opening his eyes and stared at the white ceiling. _"Where am I?"_ He wondered bit confused before he recognized the place and smiled slightly.

Link woke up to the movement and the groaning. He was laying next to Dark on the bed while being fully careful not to harm the dark Hylian. "Dark?" The Hero called before already smiling widely. "I'm glad to see you awake!" Link nearly shouted and gave a quick hug to Dark.

"Link?" The dark Hylian called bit confused but he calmed down on the second the Hero nodded. Dark sighed in relief and relaxed but very quickly his expression saddened. His right had moved towards his itching ear but Link stopped him very quickly by taking a gentle grip from his wrist.

"Don't." He half whispered and shook his head. Dark's mood dropped even more and he let his gaze go down into the bed. "Your ear is fully bandaged which is probably getting it to itch." Link started and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Besides that you got couple of ribs broken and lots of bruises. Which means that you should stay in the bed for some time." He continued sorrowfully.

The darker Hylian stayed silent but he did nod. "Darky." Link called and Dark raised his fully sorrowful gaze up. "What's wrong?" The Hero inquired quietly. The dark Hylian took once a deep breath while dropping his gaze again. He was silent for a long while.

"The earring... Where is it?" Dark finally inquired and raised his pleading gaze up. "Tell me you found it. _Please_." He continued in near tears.

Link dropped his gaze down and became fully hesitant. He bit down to his lower lip while frowning. Dark sighed heartbrokenly, closes his eyes and hung his head. His ears drooped fully as the information sunk into his head. "I... I see..." He mumbled quietly.

Link gulped once and took a deep breath. "I... I'm sorry, Dark..." He whispered and finally turned his gaze back into the dark Hylian. "I... I was more worried about you. But, um... I promise I'll go back and search for it." The Hero continued while trying to sound more confident and trustful.

Dark sighed again and shook his head. "Just forget it... Um, Link...?" He raised his gaze back up while feeling bit uncertain. Link nodded without saying a word to show he was listening. "Could you... Could you tell me what happened?" The dark Hylian inquired in slight pleading voice.

Link took once a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah... I can do that..." He replied and gave a small smile. _"He deserves to know."_ The Hero thought and started to explain what had happened after Dark had been knocked out.

_The guy with the plank smirked cruelly and readied the weapon for the next attack when suddenly he screamed in agony and crashed to the ground. "Don't you dare to touch him!" Link nearly sneered as he glared at the bad guy. He had the Hookshot in his hands and the hook of the device was bloodied as it had just impaled the thug's left leg just before the knee and right leg from the knee._

_The other two guys took a step backwards but Link turned towards them with such hatred in his eyes that one wouldn't have believed it. The Hero pulled out his sword and attacked against the leader who stared in shock at the scene. Before the guy had a chance to do a thing, the Master Sword impaled his shoulder. Link pulled the weapon out as quickly as he had struck it before already kicking the guy very harshly into the stomach and crashing him into the floor. Then he turned towards the third guy._

_The third thug dropped his sword to the floor and backed away while shaking in fear. Link started to walk towards him before he already ran. The guy screamed out and tried to back away. The Hero didn't use either of the weapons he had out but instead crashed on full force into the thug. The guy stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. Link dropped his weapons and walked to the bad guy before already taking a grip of his jacket and pulling him up to his feet. "If you and your comrades _ever_ again get anywhere _near_ Dark, you'll find yourself from the cemetery." The Hero hissed cruelly before he struck the guy's head into the wall and knocked him out._

Link stopped abruptly which got Dark to frown. "Link? You okay?" He inquired bit worriedly. The Hero hadn't told fully about the fight. In fact, he had made it much, _much_ cleaner and calmer since he knew that the dark Hylian wouldn't fully accept him going _that_ hard against others. He had left out the Hookshot and sword as well as his harsh words while just stating that he knocked them out by couple of kicks and punches.

The Hero was slightly startled and he nodded. "Yeah... Just give me a sec to clear my mind and recall it all." He replied with a small smile. Dark still frowned but he nodded and stayed silent. _"I can't tell all to him..."_ Link thought as he recalled the events without saying a word to the dark Hylian.

_By that time the leader had stood back up and held his shoulder. He glared at Link while still clutching the bloody red earring in his hand. "Give. Me. That." The Hero stated in near snarl. He started to walk towards the thug very slowly while keeping his gaze in the earring. The leader laughed nearly manically and shook his head as he put the earring into his pocket._

_"Like hell I will." He replied with a smirk. Link growled and ran straight to the guy. He avoided the knife very easily before he already started to beat the living hell out of the thug. The Hero didn't care even slightest bit of the fact that he was breaking lots of bones from the guy. Hell, he even picked the knife up and slashed the bastard couple of times by it._

_"The earring. _NOW!_" Link sneered before screaming the last word. The guy stared at him fully bewildered. The Hero growled, picked the guy up from the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. "I won't ask nicely again." He stated cruelly. The guy took out the red earring with fully shaking hand and gave it to Link. "And stay the hell away from my brother." The Hero snarled before whispering nearly sinisterly: "I went very easy on you. If I see you anywhere near Dark ever again, you'll learn very quickly what agony and terror means." Link smirked and continued even more cruelly. "If you think Ganondorf was cruel and thoroughly evil, you haven't seen even slightest bit of how hellish life can be. And don't think that I'd give you even slightest bit of mercy just because I'm the Hero..." He chuckled and shook his head. "Even Heroes have their dark side." Link whispered before he already knocked the guy out by slamming his head into the wall._

_After this he let go of the thug and let him sag into the floor before turning around. His eyes fell into the last conscious guy in the room. The guy couldn't get up nor away as Link walked to him and crouched down in front of him. "It doesn't matter if you idiots tell what happened. No-one's going to believe it." He started to grin mischievously. "You seem to be like a decent guy. So... Keep your comrades in line. Got it?" The Hero continued and the remaining thug nodded repeatedly at that. "Good. If I hear that any of you were anywhere near Dark, I'll pay you three a visit. And it's not a threat, it's a promise." Link continued before standing up._

_As the remaining thug stared at him in pure terror, the Hero fetched his weapons and pocketed the Hookshot while sheathing the sword before coming next to Dark. He crouched down fully sorrowfully before carefully pulling him into his lap. Link sighed in near tears and pulled him very close before standing up with him. "You're going to be okay, Dark." He whispered and gave a quick glance to the remaining thug before making his way out of the place._

Link took once a deep breath and finally nodded. "After I knocked them out, I took you up and got the hell out of the place. Then I played _Prelude of Light_ to get out of the back alleys and into the Temple of Time. From there I ran back to the castle and straight into here. Once I had secured you to the doctor I told to the closest guard what had happened and where he'd find the idiots. He and several other guards left to handle the situation." He concluded with a shrug.

"So... The idiots are in the jail now?" Dark inquired after a short while of silence. The Hero nodded without a word. "How long?" The dark Hylian questioned bit angrily.

Link sighed and shrugged. "Several years, _at least_. I wish it would be longer, though." He replied bit disappointed. Dark nodded and frowned.

"Would trying to do harm to a mother and child make them stay in prison for longer?" He asked and raised his bit hopeful gaze up. The Hero nodded slowly.

"It would but I don't know anything about such." Link replied but grinned a bit. "You know something, don't you. Tell me and I'll see what I can do." He stated. Dark nodded and explained the situation he had salvaged and which had gotten the trio to attack him. The Hero listened very carefully and nodded slowly after that. "I will tell all that to Zelda later today and I'm certain it'll lengthen their time." Link said before his expression softened fully. "Now... About the earrings..." He started carefully.

Dark sighed sorrowfully and was going to fiddle with the remaining earring when the Hero gave a warning look. The dark Hylian gave a nervous chuckle and slumped a bit. "Um... The earrings..." He started hesitantly before sighing again and relaxing. He stared at the ceiling before closing his eyes and starting to explain about them without giving too much of information. Dark still wasn't too eager to share his past but from time to time he just didn't have a choice.

"I woke up with them at Ganon's Castle. Always had them." He started and shrugged. "At first I didn't know what to think about them but later on I despised them. All of the stupid monsters used them to drag me from one place to another." Dark growled a bit and scowled. "Never pulled too hard to rip them off but hard enough to get me moving. Hated that so freaking much." He crossed his arms over his chest as his ears turned bit backwards in slight anger. "Later on I always associated the color of the earrings with things like blood, misery, anger and such. Hated them even more. Sometimes even thought about trying to either rip them off or break them." He sighed sorrowfully and opened his eyes to stare at the blanket as his ears drooped in sadness. "But never had the courage to do either one of them."

Dark smiled a bit and raised his saddened gaze up. "That was until I met with you for the second time... Well, bit later from there." The dark Hylian chuckled and gave a lopsided smile. "When I first saw your blue earrings I didn't know what to think about them. But there was one thing I _did_ know. They work for you. Fully." He continued and smiled genuinely even though his eyes were still sorrowful. "That was when I started to wonder if same thing worked for me too. If they fit for me like your earrings fit for you. Blue eyes, blue earrings. Red eyes, red earrings." Dark shrugged and raised his gaze up again. "After that I started to be comfortable with them. They were part of me." He smiled a bit but very soon he slumped fully and dropped his gaze down. "And now I lost other one..." The dark Hylian mumbled quietly.

Link sighed sorrowfully and carefully hugged Dark. "It'll be okay, Darky. I promise." He whispered but he knew that the words wouldn't help him on this case. The dark Hylian just simply nodded but didn't say a word for an answer.

Once the Hero let go, he took once a deep breath. "I think it's fair that I share my own story about my earrings, right?" He inquired carefully. Dark just simply shrugged. He _was_ interested but his mind was far from the current situation. Yet, he was wishing to listen to Link's voice in hopes of getting his mind off of the thoughts he currently had.

"So... I got my earrings after finishing the Shadow Temple. Impa told me that when male Sheikahs become old enough and are considered as adults, their ears are pierced. I'm not a Sheikah but she said that I'm considered as one since I'm a Hero and all that." Link explained very shortly and sighed nearly disappointed. "Not much of a story, now was it?" He inquired quietly.

Dark shrugged but smiled a bit. "It's better than what I had." He replied with slightly playful grin. The Hero chuckled and shook his head.

"Really now? And here I thought you got billion times better story compared to mine." Link stated and crossed his arms over his chest while grinning. "Much longer and with more of things happening. Would make an excellent story to tell to kids." He continued nearly happily.

Dark was slightly startled and he dropped his gaze down as his expression saddened again. "It's not worthy for kids to hear." He mumbled quietly and sighed. "They deserve better stories. Stories that _you're_ able to give to them. Not this kind of stuff." The dark Hylian replied quietly.

Link chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, _please_! They know my stories inside-out already! Your stories are something new to them. Seriously, you should give it a try." He countered with a slight grin.

Dark sighed and just shrugged. He wasn't on the mood to start arguing against something like this. "Whatever." The dark Hylian mumbled, crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes again. _"I got better things to think than this..."_

Link sighed and slumped a bit. He had hoped for a slight arguing and whatnot but Dark had given up much faster than usually. "Hey, everything's going to be okay. I promise." The Hero whispered but the only reply he got was just simple shrug. Link sighed again and leaned forward to give a kiss to the dark Hylian's forehead. "Maybe you need bit of rest. I'll fetch something for you to eat. Anything specific you want?"

Dark sighed again and slumped a bit before opening his eyes and looking at the Hero. "Besides the lost earring?" He inquired nearly bitterly. Link nearly flinched but the look on his face became hesitant and he turned his gaze off without knowing what to say. "Anything goes since I know you're not going to take _no_ for an answer as well as that you're going to make sure that I eat it so... Whatever you bring is good enough..." The dark Hylian half mumbled slightly angrily.

Link sighed once again and nodded. After that he stood up and left. Dark carefully took a bit better position on the bed while slightly playing with the remaining earring. _"Should I just rip it off to make it even? Or just smash it later on to get it off?"_ He wondered, sighed heavily and closed his eyes while letting his hand fall away from the earring. _"I couldn't even get it back as a reminder of it ever been there..."_

Couple of days later and lot of times of stopping Dark from either scratching the bandaged ear or from playing with the remaining one, Link finally said the much waited words. "The doctor gave rights to take the bandages off of your ear." Dark sighed exaggerated and was ready to rip them off but the Hero stopped him once again. "Not so fast, Darky." He stated with a slight mischievous grin. The dark Hylian groaned and gave a half-hearted glare to him. "Close your eyes and stay still. Got it?" Link stated nearly commandingly.

Dark groaned and slumped but did as he was told to. The Hero sighed sorrowfully but carefully started to unwrap the bandages. The darker Hylian whined and groaned once in a while depending on was the work either tickling him or tugging a bit too much. Eventually, after the bandage was fully off, Link took out a hand held mirror he had brought in while Dark had been asleep. He kept it so the ear was fully visible for the dark Hylian. "You can open your eyes now." Link called carefully.

Dark groaned nearly angrily and was going to glare at the Hero but the mirror came right into his eyesight and all thoughts were cut on that second. He just stared before very carefully and slowly raised his hand to the ear which was now without any of bandages. "H-how...?" The dark Hylian inquired very quietly as he carefully touched the red earring that was dangling from his ear from the same place where it had been before.

Link smiled and scratched the back of his head bit nervously. "I _honestly_ wanted to tell you but knew this would mean much more to you." He started carefully. Dark stayed silent but the Hero had his full notion. "I got the earring from that bastard without much of trouble. And I asked if the doctor could one way or another get it back to where it belongs. Luckily he got that part done. Otherwise I would've given you the earring after you woke up." Link explained carefully.

Dark nodded but he was still at loss of words. Very soon he closed his eyes slowly as the truth fully sank into his understanding. Right after that he opened his eyes and glomped the Hero on that second. "THANK YOU! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The dark Hylian almost screamed as he embraced Link very tightly and cried out of joy.

Link chuckled a bit but answered into the hug very quickly and nearly equally strongly. "It's nothing. Just don't scratch it. The stitches and such need time to heal." He advised. Dark nodded eagerly once he let go of the Hero. Yet, his hand found quite quickly back to the earring. "Dark... Honestly, leave it alone for the time being." Link stated with a small chuckle and gently removed the dark Hylian's hand from the earring.

"B-but..." Dark started in near whine but the look on the Hero's face silenced him very quickly. "It _itches!_" The dark Hylian whined again yet, he was stopped from doing anything to it. He started to twitch his ear but that didn't help. Instead, it only worsened the itching. "_Li-ink!_" Dark whined in hopes of getting help.

"I'll see what I can do. Just keep your hands off of it." Link answered and gave a warning look to the dark Hylian. Dark just nodded and tried to get himself occupied with something but with no help. The Hero left to find the doctor whom came surprisingly quickly into the room with new bandages.

Dark stared at them and slumped a bit. He did _not_ want his ear bandaged again. "Link?" The dark Hylian called nearly miserably.

"Don't worry. Just stay still. It's going to be okay." Link reassured him and took a hold of Dark's hands to keep him from causing trouble. The dark Hylian closed his eyes and waited. The bandaging didn't take long. The doctor nodded and left. The Hero took up the mirror again and placed it in front of the dark Hylian. "Dark, you can open your eyes again." He called calmly.

Dark opened his eyes slowly but frowned when he saw his ear un-bandaged... Except for small part right underneath the upper part of the earring. "To cover the healing area so the earring won't cause trouble." Link explained with a small smile. The dark Hylian blinked couple of times before his expression brightened once again and before the Hero had a chance to react, Dark already embraced him.

"_Thank You!_" He stated with equal joy than before when he saw the earring back in its rightful place. Link smiled happily and returned the hold eagerly. This was one of the best things that the life could give him. His brother happy and well.

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A/N: Continuation: There will come a full continuation for this where Dark finds out about what Link has done to the trio. ^^; It takes a while but it's already under thinking. There will come different chapters before it but I will give a notion of it once I get to the actual chapter. ;)

So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	5. Shitty day is shitty

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary: **Link and Zelda have left the castle for the day. Dark wakes up alone in the room and decides to try and get breakfast from the Market. That doesn't end up well and from that moment on things start to go downhill.

P.S. Can anyone come up with better chapter title? ^.-

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**Situations from their lives  
><span>**

CHAPTER 5: Shitty day is shitty

Dark woke up in an empty bed. Link had woken up couple of hours earlier and left. There was a simple and short note on the night table next to the dark Hylian. Dark sighed and sat up while looking around. He _really_ hated to wake up _after_ Link. It left him feeling like he would've been abandoned. Not that he ever dared to say that to the Hero.

Dark took up the paper and unfolded it. _"Dark, I'm sorry but there came up something that I have to handle. I'll be back in the evening. Try and enjoy the day. Link. P.S. I think Zelda's going to be along with this one."_ The dark Hylian sighed and put the paper back to the table. He could just stay the day in the room. No-one would give a damn 'bout it anyways. Hell, he could stay in the bed too and just ignore everything. Yet, he felt like he'd be betraying Link if he did such.

Dark sighed again and got up. As he went to change clothes and get ready for the day, he started to figure out what he wanted from the day. _"I could get the breakfast from the kitchen but... Then again I could try my luck in the Market. Might be nice to try and make things better for myself in here..."_ The dark Hylian thought and made his choice of leaving the room and eventually the castle fully.

Since the day was warm, he put on his black tunic and the gauntlets. Dark took along his sword, shield and his knife just in case. Rest of the weapons he left off since he was certain of not needing them. The sword and shield were just for his own comfort and the knife was because of an habit and for having some kind of weapon other than the actual things. And the gauntlets were also out of habit as well as for lack of wanting to bandage his hands and arms.

It was still early so not too much of people was out at that time. Dark made his way out of the castle without seeing anyone. The Market Place had grown a lot during the past years of peace... Or then it was just the summer that brought more of people out earlier in the morning. Nonetheless, the area was having more and more of people during those days and even more of different kind of stands all around the place.

Dark walked around the Market place. Most of people didn't pay any of attention to him. It didn't bother the dark Hylian at all since at the time he just wanted to watch and observe. Yet, about an hour later things started to turn wrong when he decided to try and buy something for breakfast because he hadn't eaten anything since last evening.

After checking the area for a while longer, the dark Hylian finally chose one stand and went closer to get a better look of what it was selling. It ended up being different kind of fish foods. Dark wasn't fully eager of fish dishes but he did eat pretty much anything that was worthy of eating. Yet, since there was lot of foods he had no knowledge at all, he went for something he had learned to know. _Smoked Hylian Pike._

Even though Dark wasn't fully liking fishing, he did understand the meaning of it and the food it provided which was the reason he was willing to eat fish out of his own decision. So, he waited for his turn on the stand but each time he would've been next he was thoroughly ignored. By both the seller _and_ other customers. The dark Hylian tried to stay calm and polite but the rude treatment finally got through him. Dark sighed and left to find something else to eat. _"Not that I wanted to eat fish anyways..."_ He thought bit bitterly.

The next stand he walked to was selling different kind of fruits, berries and vegetables. There were some of things he would've wanted but it was better off for a dessert. So, he went forward and eventually found a place which sold different kind of sandwiches. Now this was something he knew and was actually eager of eating.

Dark walked over to the stand and tried to look as confident as possible. It was easy since he was certain of similar treatment as before but he was going to try his luck at there. Yet, on the second the seller saw him, his expression darkened straight off. "We do _NOT_ sell to anyone with red eyes." The man stated harshly and sternly while glaring at the dark Hylian.

Dark smiled calmly while keeping his slight grin off of his face. "What about Sheikahs, the guardians of the Royal Family? They have red eyes too." He replied with a slight shrug.

The guy visibly flinched at the answer before he got back his composure. "You are _not_ a Sheikah. So, we do _not_ sell to you." He answered cruelly.

Dark knew the guy got him there but he was ready to try his luck. "And how do you know I'm not part of them?" He inquired as calmly as he could. The seller went fully silent as he thought for an answer but one of the customers came for his help.

"Because Sheikahs would _never_ come to buy from this kind of places!" A young man stated with a victorious grin on his face. "Now, get the hell out of here before we call the guards." He continued threateningly.

Dark flinched very slightly and gave a quick angry glance at the guy but left the place. He _knew_ that everyone around the stand would back the guy up and _no-one_ would listen to him. Sighing he went to find another stand to try his luck one more time. Yet, the similar treatment continued on. This time around they stated not to sell to Shadows. And Dark pulled out the Sheikahs part again only to meet with similar answer than before except for the threat of calling the guards. But, that's when the seller went for another little argument. "We don't sell to _monsters_." The guy spat out the last word while smirking cruelly.

Dark tried to stay calm but he _really_ hated the way people treated him from time to time. "I'm _not_ a monster. I'm sure it's clear to _everyone_." He answered calmly but sternly. The seller's smirk only grew wider at that reply.

"Oh, really now? I've heard the stories 'bout you. And I've seen monsters that has resemblance to people." The guy replied maliciously.

The dark Hylian usually had a reply close enough but this time he couldn't figure out anything to say. He only muttered out that simple line: "I'm not a monster." After that he turned his back to the guy and walked away. The seller was shouting few cruel words after him before laughing as he knew to have won.

Dark tried to put the whole situations behind him and enjoy of the day. Yet, he still was needing some kind of breakfast but once he walked to the next stand, the guy put up a sign over his stand. It was very poorly drawn version of the dark Hylian with a huge red X-mark drawn over him. The picture looked more of what a very young kid would draw but the message was _very_ clear to him. That guy was _not_ going to sell anything to him. The dark Hylian sighed and turned towards the next one only to see the guy working with something. Once he got closer the seller pulled up equally quickly made picture of him with a red X over the picture. The man was having nearly wicked grin on his face as he put the sign into plain sight. From there forward the rest of the stands pulled same trick.

Dark nearly slumped in defeat. He moved out of the line of stands and walked into middle of the Market. He sat down to one of the benches that were put around the fountain and closed his eyes. The dark Hylian tried to calm down and just enjoy of the warm summer day. _"It's not like I would've _needed_ breakfast. I did eat pretty well last evening with Link..."_ He thought, took once a deep breath and slowly started to relax.

Dark listened to his surroundings without falling asleep. The occasional birds that flew by once in a while. The kids screaming in joy and laughing. The sellers and customers talking. And surprisingly even the water in the fountain behind him. He wasn't trying to make any of words out of it all but just listening to everything as whole while identifying different sounds from each other as well as to figure out where they were coming from.

It was helping his situation and he smiled slightly. He was breathing slowly and calmly which probably looked a bit like he would've fallen asleep even though that wasn't the case. Dark did hear someone coming closer to him but he didn't pay much of notion to it. He was quite certain of that person just walking past or sitting down to another close by bench. It wasn't like anyone would like to sit next to him in the end. Sure, he also thought that the person _might_ come to tell him to scram. It wasn't that of bad thing but none of the three happened. The person went for something _much_ more worse.

Dark opened his eyes when the said person came to block the sunlight. He half waited it to be Link but there were at least three things that went against that idea. One, the Hero would've rather sat next to him instead of blocking the sun. Two, he would've said something by now. Three, he had said to come back by evening, not earlier. Before the dark Hylian had a chance to realize what was going on, the man had already put his hands to his shoulders and quickly pulled him upwards. That already startled Dark but it wasn't what struck him into panic.

The man pushed the dark Hylian's head into the fountain and held him underneath the water. Dark's eyes flew wide open out of the shock before already starting to trash and fight as hard as he could to get out of the water. The guy holding him down didn't care about his struggling at all but only pressed harder onto his shoulders. The dark Hylian was in full panic as he couldn't breathe underwater nor could he get away from there either.

Suddenly the strong grip on him loosened fully and the guy moved away. Dark shot up from the water and half crashed, half slid off of the bench and into the ground. He was coughing out the water while gasping for air. The dark Hylian had closed his eyes earlier so he didn't know what had caused the guy to let him go.

As his breathing got easier, he started to calm down and finally started to hear the people around him. He couldn't yet make any sense of the words but he slowly opened his eyes and searched for whoever it had been that had saved his life. Soon he found an elderly man half shouting at the guy that had nearly drowned him.

Dark stood up bit shakily while still coughing from time to time. He was slightly shivering out of the fact how close to death he had been. It still took a while but the dark Hylian started to make sense to the words that he was hearing around him. The crowd was bit shocked and it was clear none of them actually knew whether to be disappointed or glad that the dark Hylian had survived. But, that wasn't what Dark cared about at that moment. He turned his full notion into the elderly man and the younger guy in front of him.

"I do _not_ accept death in this Market during such a beautiful day as today." The older man stated very sternly.

"But that Goddesses damn freak...!" The younger one argued but the older one shut him up very quickly.

"Enough! Your actions are a disgrace to Hyrulians. If _you_ want him dead then do it out of sight so _no-one_ knows of your work except you when you face the Hero about your crimes." The older man half growled.

"Why do you care about that monster's wellbeing, huh?" The guy sneered and gave a harsh glare towards Dark which was unseen by him since the older man stood right in front of him.

"I don't. I just don't want to see deaths in this Market without a reason. And as far as I saw, he did _nothing_ to cause harm." The older man replied surprisingly calmly, though unseen to the dark Hylian, the man had a scowl on his face as he _backed_ Dark up.

"This isn't over." The guy growled but it was meant towards the dark Hylian instead of the elder man in front of him.

"I do not care what you have against him. By all means, kill him. But do it somewhere _else_." The older man answered. That was the end of the conversation since the younger guy left the place after that.

Dark wasn't fully sure about where the situation was at the moment but he smiled a bit to the older man as he turned around. "Than—" He started but the man gave a sharp swish of his hand to shut the dark Hylian.

"Just get the hell out of here. The only reason I didn't let you drown was that I did _not_ want any deaths for today." The old man barked while glaring very harshly at Dark. "Now... GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" The man screamed in anger.

The dark Hylian nearly jumped in start before just simply nodding and starting to walk very swiftly out of the Market place. He could feel the man's eyes on him as he made his way through the crowd and into one of the alleys in the area.

It didn't take long until Dark was fully lost in there. Whenever he saw or got close to people, they pretty much called him on names. The worse the word, the harder it hurt. Yet, the dark Hylian refused to show how harshly they could bring him down by that. He tried to look much more braver than what he felt with a slight smile on his face. Dark did nod to everyone who came across his way but the best he got was being fully ignored.

The dark Hylian's only good luck was when he came to a river that was going through a small park. He didn't dare to go anywhere near the water but he sat down to a secluded bench while watching the stream's flow. Even though he _seriously_ hated water, he still enjoyed listening to it. The summer was already drying the water off of him but he had used slight heat from Din's Fire to speed things up.

Dark closed his eyes and leaned backwards on the bench. He tried to calm down once again but he shivered nearly violently as he recalled the earlier situation. It hadn't come into his mind but he could've pulled his sword or knife out but he realized very quickly _why_ he hadn't gone for either one of them. _"I'm _not_ going to be called as a murderer... _Everyone_ would've said I attacked without a reason if I had tried to protect myself..."_ The dark Hylian sighed again, leaned forward and pulled his legs up and against his chest while circling his arms around them. Yet, very soon he let his other leg back down and just leaned against one knee. At least _that_ didn't make him look too vulnerable.

While sitting at there the people weren't as bad as everywhere else. The easiest thing that happened was them just avoiding Dark or looking at him like he didn't belong into there. The worst was harsh words, pointing at him and snickering at one thing or another. The dark Hylian tried to close his ears from it all and concentrate into the sound of the water but it wasn't really working.

Soon it just started to feel bit too bad. Dark sighed while desperately trying to look like the words hadn't struck that of badly. He stood up from the bench and left to follow the stream while still staying far enough from the edge. He _really_ didn't want to get wet for second time that day.

The stream led him into a much bigger pond than what was in one of the yards of the Hyrule Castle. Close to the pond was several houses which were different kind of restaurants. Around the pond was going slight rocky road which led down to the shore. The stream had made a slight waterfall into the pond and next to the rocky road was a slight fence.

Dark looked around for a while since it looked unoccupied at the moment. There were several people in the restaurants as well as at the shore of the pond but other than that it looked empty. The dark Hylian wasn't fully sure of the time but he did know one thing... He was getting hungry.

Dark turned towards the couple of restaurants and wondered for a while which of the offered places he could check. After a short while of debating, he made his choice and went into the just some time ago opened place. The dark Hylian had heard about it in few occasions and he was eager to find out what _hamburger meal_ actually meant. He did know that of much that it was some kind of food but that was as far as his knowledge went about it. Even though Dark wasn't yet having the courage to actually _try_ it, he wanted to see what it looked like.

The dark Hylian walked into the line of three customers. Couple of more came surprisingly soon after him but he tried not to pay any notion to them as he checked the few boards above the counter. There weren't any of pictures of the food but there was the names of them. Yet, what the actual meal held inside was written in way too small that he could've managed to read it. As he waited for the line to move forward, the one behind him pushed himself right in front of him. "Hey, excuse me but that was my place." Dark stated as calmly and nicely as possible.

"So? There isn't your name hanging in the air." The guy replied with a shrug without even glancing at him.

"That's not the point. What you did wasn't right." The dark Hylian said while keeping his voice firm but not like he wanted to start a fight. The guy shrugged again but didn't turn around this time either.

"You were so wrapped up with those that you wouldn't have noticed the line moving. So how should I know that you were _on_ the line?" He countered while smirking.

Dark sighed and didn't pester it any further. "Whatever..." He mumbled and made sure that no-one else was going to go past him. He had already made his choice of what he would order. For a short while he thought about going for one of the _hamburger_ meals but since he didn't know what it actually was consisting of, he decided to go for something he actually _did_ know. And it wasn't exactly as expensive as the new food was.

Luckily there didn't come any of other problems and soon he got to the cashier. "Hey. I'd like to have a toasted chicken sandwich." Dark said while smiling a bit.

"We're out of them." She stated very bluntly while looking bit annoyed.

"Oh. That's unfortunate." The dark Hylian replied bit surprised.

"Are you going to order something or just stand there and block other customers?" The girl asked without even giving Dark a chance to reconsider his choice of food.

"Ah! Sorry. Uh... A toasted salmon sandwich then, please." He replied while trying to stay calm. The cashier sighed but nodded.

"It'll be 25 rupees, then." She stated while putting the order in. Dark was bit startled.

"Uh... It says just 10 rupees in the board..." He said bit uncertainly while taking out his money.

"Old information. It's 25 rupees or you leave without." The girl stated very firmly. The dark Hylian wanted to try and argue but he was getting hungry and he wasn't willing to leave to another place and re-do it all.

"Okay. No worries. I understand." Dark replied and pulled out one red and one blue rupee and handed them to her.

"The food will be brought to you soon." The cashier said and left towards the kitchen while another person took her place. The dark Hylian gave the guy a smile and left to find a free place. It wasn't that of hard since there wasn't too many of customers.

_"Well... I guess it's called _fast food_ since they barely give people time to think what they want to eat..."_ Dark thought and looked around. Really few actually were having toasted sandwiches. _"Maybe they just ran out of needed things for the chicken one..."_ The dark Hylian wondered as he noticed at least one toasted chicken sandwich. _"After all, this place is pretty new one..."_

While Dark was observing his surroundings around the restaurant, the girl had gone to state out that the dark Hylian had come into their restaurant. "So... He tried to order a toasted chicken sandwich, huh?" One of the cooks inquired and the girl nodded. "And he believed you when you claimed we're out of them?" He continued and started to laugh when the girl nodded again. "Sheesh, what else you got him to believe, huh?" He asked with a grin.

"I would've prevented him from the toasted salmon sandwich but the customer after him was going for same so I couldn't lose a customer because of him." The girl stated but deep inside she was actually feeling bit bad for Dark. "Also, I got him to pay 15 rupees more than what the sandwich actually was." She continued and shrugged. "Didn't even argue when I stated that the price in the board is old one."

The cooks started to laugh even harder. "So... How do we make sure he won't come back?" One of the cooks inquired wickedly. "Uncooked fish? Burned bread?" He suggested eagerly.

The leader cook shook his head and grinned even more cruelly than the others. "No... I have _much_ better choice..." He stated and carefully started to explain his plan. The cashier left the room while feeling bad for the dark Hylian. In her mind he had looked bit lonely and nice. She really wished she could've done something for him but she wasn't willing to risk her job because of _one_ customer whom _no-one_ wanted around.

As time went past Dark started to notice some things. One, customer who had come _after_ him were already getting their foods while he was still waiting. Two, couple of those customers had ordered toasted chicken sandwich and actually got it. _"Maybe they had stocked on the needed things and she just didn't know 'bout it?"_ He thought and for a while considered to ask from one of the waiters about what was taking so long but decided against it. Maybe the fish was just bit harder to get cooked.

After an hour had gone past, the girl returned into the kitchen. "He's still there." She said and hid well her sadness. The cooks grumbled a bit.

"Fine... Let's go for the second phase." The leader cook stated angrily. The cashier left the room while praying the cooks would _not_ poison the food. Yet, she was certain they wouldn't be _that_ stupid just because they had something against the dark Hylian.

Eventually, after an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting, the food was finally brought to Dark. He was fully startled about what he was presented with. "Uh... This isn't what I ordered..." The dark Hylian said slightly uncertainly.

"Deal with it. Not my fault that you can't remember what you ordered." The waiter stated harshly and walked away. Dark stared after him before turning his gaze into the food in front of him. There was pretty much _nothing_ to eat of it.

First of all, he had ordered out toasted sandwich but brought something _much_ different. He wasn't certain but had a feeling it was what people called _hamburger_. On left side was some kind of salad. On right was pile of odd long yellowish sticks that he had no knowledge of what they were. And in front was couple of black disks and between them was what looked like fully raw meat. There was something else in it too but he had no idea what it was but it was dripping from somewhere between the meat and the upper black disk.

Dark gulped once and picked the fork up. He poked the salad few times just to realize that it was fully un-cleaned with some dirt in there. And what he hated even more was that it seemed to have a worm or two in there too. _"Ew..."_ He thought with a slight scowl before going to check what that oddly build thing had in it.

The dark Hylian fully put the pieces of the thing off of each other. After a short examination he realized that the black disks were actually thoroughly burned bread. That what he had thought to be meat was exactly that. But it wasn't worth of eating either. And that odd thing that had been dripping from there, besides blood, was that odd word he had learned once. _Salad dressing_. Though, it could've been mayonnaise too. He wasn't thoroughly sure 'bout it.

Since both the salad and the oddly build stuff weren't worth of eating, Dark decided to check the stack of odd sticks. At first he poked it couple of times but since nothing started to move on their own, he went for better check. The dark Hylian carefully turned the sticks around to get a better look at them and very soon realized that it was equally uneatable. The yellow sticks were thoroughly green from everywhere else and some were even slimy while few were frozen which _fully_ confused him.

Dark sighed and shook his head. This was _not_ what he had been waiting for. _"I hate this day..."_ He thought while trying to find _something_ worth of eating of the pile of destroyed food. After some time of poking and turning things around, he eventually found few clean and eatable pieces of the salad. There were even few of those sticks that seemed good enough to eat. As he did so, he realized that that odd sticks actually tasted like potato. He just didn't understand how that was possible.

For a while he wondered about trying to complain about the food he had been presented with but gave up on the idea very quickly. He _knew_ that everyone would back the place and the owners instead of him. They would turn the whole situation against him very quickly and he would only get into trouble by that.

Dark sighed again, pushed the plate further off of him and left. He was _not_ going to come back. Though, he _knew_ that if Link had been with him, the treatment would've been _SO_ much different. And he hated that. He hated the feeling of hiding behind the Hero in _every_ situation. It just was so _wrong_.

The dark Hylian didn't watch where he went. He was fully in his thoughts while going this and that way around the alleys of the Market Place. He was feeling hungry and bit angry but he wasn't sure who that anger was meant against. Eventually he sighed heavily and sat down to the closest bench he found. Dark leaned forward while placing his elbows into his knees and hiding his face into his hands.

He felt like crying. The dark Hylian wasn't asking for much. Just simple _hi_ or a nod would've been enough. Being treated like one among others was all he wanted. He didn't ask for similar treatment like what Link got. Was it so freaking much asked to be treated like everyone else?

His anger was rising and he wanted to hit _something_ but kept himself as calm as possible. He was _not_ going to start a fight or destroy something that didn't belong to him or which he couldn't really pay for. Dark took once a deep shaky breath before getting back to his feet and starting to make his way out of there only to realize that he was fully lost.

For a while longer he walked around and tried to backtrack his ways but that only got him to lose his knowledge of his whereabouts even more. Dark sighed and eventually tried to talk to the few people he met around the alleys. At first they just ignored him and pretended like he wasn't even there. Eventually, after bugging one guy around his age for long enough, he eventually pointed a direction. The dark Hylian thanked him but the given help only got him even more lost. And that continued on until evening. People just pointed to wrong way and led him from time to time into dead-ends.

It was late in the evening when Dark finally found back to the Market Place. He sighed in relief and started to make his way straight to the castle... Only to be stopped right at the gate. "No-one is allowed into the castle when her Highness is out." The knight stated harshly.

The dark Hylian was ready to argue and even tell that his horse was in there along with the lines of being the Hero's brother but he decided against it. The guy _knew_ it all but the orders were what they were. He wasn't going to get through from there. Dark sighed bit angrily and started to make his way back to the Market Place. Yet, he stopped quite soon after he had gotten out of the guy's sight.

The dark Hylian remembered well what Link had told him about his first visit into the castle. Dark grinned a bit and checked his surroundings very swiftly before he started to climb up the vines that were growing on the close by wall. _"I'm surprised these haven't been cut down... Maybe Link never told to anyone else how he got into the castle..."_ He thought but once he reached the edge, he moved towards right and climbed up once he was closer to the actual fence.

_"A child is much harder to be noticed from the yard than grownup."_ Dark realized as he checked the area. That where he had climbed up was much higher and the guards and knights rarely looked up into there. Yet, he stayed as close to the further edge as possible while making his way towards the castle. Eventually he came to the other end of the area, looked at the two guards at the gate and jumped down.

Dark somersaulted on the second he hit to the ground. After that he very swiftly scrambled to his feet and ran as silently as possible to stay out of sight. He came to the area where the young Hero had used the slight water area to get into the actual yard. The dark Hylian couldn't use that nor did he dare to check the door into the storage room. He couldn't be sure it was free of people.

Dark walked to the area where the fence moved right beside the tower and climbed up. He was fully grateful of his excellent balance as he walked on the thin and bit dangerous fence. The dark Hylian was happy about the slight help the wall of the tower was giving him. It wasn't like he honestly needed it but it brought him slight feeling of security by letting him lean against it.

Behind the tower started one of the castle's many yards. Dark had been there few times and he was quite certain of knowing his way into Link's room from there. Now he just had to avoid all of the guards and knights to get forward. Luckily his hearing and eyesight were much better than anyone else's so he counted on those.

Dark carefully jumped down from the fence but stayed close to it since there were several bushes and trees that provided the needed shadows. He knew he could easily use the Shadows and be in Link's room in no time but he wanted to check his sneaking abilities for once.

He managed through the yard and into the castle. This was where things would get bit more complicated with the lack of places to hide into. The dark Hylian moved swiftly and as quietly as he could through the hallways. He was quick to retreat into darker area or into another hallway if he heard someone coming. The first floor went well and he already got into the second when he was spotted. "Intruder!" One of the guards that were on night-duty shouted and left to chase Dark.

_"Oh shit!"_ The dark Hylian thought and took off into running. The guard was screaming both cruel words as well as threats after him. He could easily ignore the threats but the harsh words actually hurt. _"They freaking know who I am! Why the hell they have to chase _me_ out of all of people?!"_ Dark thought in slight panic as he rounded another corner. He was slightly faster, thanks to the training the Hero had put him through, so he was slowly getting ahead of them.

The dark Hylian tried to get to the third floor but each time there seemed to be someone waiting for him. Eventually he hid into one of the hidden pathways that Link had shown to him. Dark waited until things started to calm down before he left the safe area. He continued to sneak forward but he was seen for second time couple of hallways before the Hero's room.

The dark Hylian ran again and hid very quickly. He was so close to safety and he did _not_ want others to see him get into Link's room. It took about an hour before things calmed down again and he left the small room he had found. After that he dashed straight into the Hero's room's door and unlocked it as swiftly as possible. Having a key _seriously_ fastened things and he was inside very quickly.

Dark sighed in relief after he had closed the door and was leaning against it. He slid down to the floor and took couple of deep breaths to calm down. _"Safety... Finally in safety..."_ He thought and carefully stood up. The dark Hylian was _NOT_ going to make _any_ of sounds to indicate him being at there. There just was one simple problem... He wanted to get nice warm shower and hopefully calm down.

Yet, Dark knew _one_ thing. _Every_ guard and knight _knew_ that the Hero's room was _off limits._ And _that_ gave him the safety he needed. The guards and knights wouldn't _dare_ to come into the room even when Link wasn't around. They at least respected the Hero _that_ much.

The dark Hylian locked the door, gathered his clothes and went into the bathroom. He locked that door too before already heading to get the warm shower. Dark wasn't sure how long he was there but the warm water _really_ relaxed him. The day had been harsh and he was hungry but the shower was something that eased his situation a bit. From there, after bandaging his hands and arms again, he made his way straight to the bed.

Dark was feeling fully tired both physically and emotionally but he wasn't going to do things wrong. He did the bed even though at the moment he couldn't care less about it. After that he checked the room very quickly in case there was something that needed to be handled but luckily everything seemed to be alright. The dark Hylian sighed, laid down to the bed and very soon curled up once again underneath the blanket.

Right after he had half hidden himself into the blanket, he broke down. He _hated_ the way people treated him. And he always had this kind of shitty days when both Link _and_ Zelda were out of the castle. It was like a darn invitation to every other person to treat him like shit. Whenever both or other one of the duo was around the castle, people didn't dare to go _that_ harshly against him.

Dark wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel. Anger towards all of those fools who had hurt him? Hatred for the same reason? Misery for not being able to show that he's not the enemy? Loneliness for not having even _one_ person who would've stood up for him? Failure for letting everyone just walk over him? Or all that and so much more? In the end he just felt like screaming and breaking something, yet he only stayed on the bed and cried his heart out.

And that was how Link found him about fifteen minutes later.

The dark Hylian gasped in shock when he heard the key in the lock. He thought for a while about just faking to be asleep but at the moment he just felt too lonely. Dark just wanted _someone_ to tell him that things would be okay and that he wasn't alone in the world. Before he knew it, he had already started to cry all over again.

The Hero walked into the room with a slight smile on his face. He closed the door but frowned when he heard sobbing and turned towards the bed. "Dark?" Link called carefully while still frowning and walked to the bed. "Are you okay?" He inquired fully concerned while sitting down to the bed.

Dark didn't answer. He _tried_ to stop crying but things just felt like crashing down on him. The dark Hylian gasped a bit when he felt someone pull him up. He closed his eyes tightly and didn't fight even slightest bit when the Hero pulled him into a tight hug.

Link had carefully pulled Dark up and to his lap while holding tightly. "Come on, bro, tell me what happened. I'm right here for you." He whispered carefully along with small reassuring and comforting words. The dark Hylian just sat there for a while before eventually he turned around to face the Hero. He circled his arms around him and hid his face into the crook between neck and shoulder while crying all the while. Link tightened the hold slightly while trying to calm him down.

It took a long while but eventually Dark calmed down. "I... I had bit hard day..." He finally mumbled but shook his head when the Hero inquired if he wanted to tell more about it. The dark Hylian kept his gaze down while feeling bit ashamed about having broken down like that. Yet, he couldn't help the fact that having had Link holding him, had helped and felt nice. And he actually wanted him to hold him a while longer, yet the Hero moved off of the bed.

"I'll be right back." Link told as he went back to the door. He picked up a pouch he had brought in before already starting to search for something from it. Dark glanced at him once before turning his gaze back to him and frowning in confusion. Eventually the Hero sat back down next to the dark Hylian while still going through the small thing. "Just a sec... I know it's here somewhere..." Link mumbled quietly but soon his expression brightened as he pulled out a well packed thing. "For you." He stated with a wide smile while giving the package to Dark.

The dark Hylian looked at it with a curious frown while carefully unwrapping the cloth around it. Eventually he found something that looked like a minced pie. "Is it eatable?" He inquired with one eyebrow raised and once Link nodded, Dark already started to eat it.

The Hero chuckled a bit. "Easy with it. On that way you won't even know what you're eating." He stated but he started to frown very quickly. "Have you eaten anything today?" Link inquired bit worriedly.

Once the dark Hylian had eaten about half of the thing, he just simply shook his head. "Didn't really have a chance." He replied sorrowfully. It wasn't exactly the full truth but it wasn't a lie either. All of his chances had been ruined one way or another.

"How come?" The Hero asked with a slight frown before already presenting another minced pie. Dark took it eagerly. The first one had been with few different meats inside of it and the second had different berries. The dark Hylian ate it quite quickly.

"Got in bit of trouble. Nothing too bad, though." Dark eventually answered while partly licking his fingers clean. "Is there more of those?" He inquired while feeling fully hopeful.

"If I had known that you're starving, I would've brought you more." Link replied but the bit surprised look turned very soon into mischievous one. "Though, I _might _have something different..." He continued bit mysteriously.

The dark Hylian perked up at that and tried to get a peek into the pouch but the Hero was fully blocking him. Eventually Dark just sat down and waited as Link fished out what he was searching for. It was surprisingly big compared into the place it was held in.

It looked like a cake but it wasn't done normally. The dark Hylian fully frowned as he watched the odd square thing which the Hero put into Dark's night table. "It's called as 'sandwich-cake'." Link started with a smile. "And since you're not so eager of fish, I made sure it was more for other meats and vegetables." He continued and started to explain as well as he could about it.

There were two different kinds of breads. Light one which was softer and dark one that was bit harder to eat. The coating was of some kind of mayonnaise and cheese. For decoration was different kinds of meat and vegetables. Inside, between the breads was lot of different things.

The dark Hylian was bit suspicious about the presented food but once he tasted it, he ended up eating over half of the whole odd cake. Luckily it wasn't _that_ of big cake to start with. It was meant for two but since Dark was actually hungry, Link let him take the most of the sandwich-cake.

That night the dark Hylian slept surprisingly peacefully. His day had been harsh but the Hero had fully turned things around for him. And that was all he needed for a peaceful night. For once his mind didn't wander off into the wrongs that had been done to him but to the nice evening meal Link had brought to him.

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	6. The Fairy Ocarina

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary: **Dark has been hiding the fact that he has an Ocarina. During one summer day Sheik finds out about it and confronts the dark Hylian. The conversation leads Dark into causing trouble to a certain Sage as well as to the Hero.

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**Situations from their lives  
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CHAPTER 6: The Fairy Ocarina

Dark was sitting underneath a lonely tree at the Lake Hylia. He was having two tunics on even though it was very warm summer day. The first one, which was actually seen, was his own black tunic. Underneath that one was the blue Zora Tunic. It was the _only_ thing that would keep him calm enough around water. And surprisingly he actually enjoyed being at Lake Hylia even though he honestly hated and feared water. Yet, with the Zora Tunic he could overcome his fear and just enjoy of the sound the water made along with every other summer sounds like the bugs and birds along with the wind.

The dark Hylian sighed a bit and pulled out a wooden ocarina. It was bit pinkish on color but it didn't really matter. He had stolen it from Ganondorf and that was good enough reason to like it. Sure, the sound it made wasn't as pure and beautiful as the blue Ocarina of Time which Link used. But, at least it was _something_.

Dark traced the ocarina for a while and just watched it. He loved music but he didn't keep himself as a good musician. The Hero was _much_ better when it came to the Ocarina. He even had bit of talent for other instruments like harp, guitar and pan flute. Yet, Link always went back to playing the Ocarina. According to him, it just felt right for him.

After a long while, the dark Hylian eventually closed his eyes and carefully brought the ocarina to his lips. He felt fully hesitant since he didn't really have the courage to play it. Link had tried to teach him couple of times but he always ended up on closing his eyes and just listening.

Dark had thought about bringing few of those small booklets he had gained from his friend from another Hyrule. The other Dark Link had actually found a way to teach him to play the ocarina. He had drawn the Ocarina and then blacked one of the holes. It took lot of paper and drawing but eventually he had gotten several songs done. He also, luckily, numbered the pages so they wouldn't get messed up. But, since those were papers, the dark Hylian feared a bit that the wind would take them and throw them into the lake and there would go both a present and his way of learning.

Yet, the other Dark Link had managed to teach him couple of songs already and he was willing to give it a try. _"Probably a thorough fail but we'll see..."_ He thought bit fearfully before taking once a deep breath and starting to play. It was slow since he wanted to check at first if he remembered the right holes. The song itself was slow but not _that_ slow.

The song Dark started to play was called as _Song of Healing_. It was beautiful in both happy and sad way. And out of all of the songs he had heard throughout his life so far, this one was his favorite. It calmed him down when he needed it. The only problem was that he couldn't listen to it whenever he wanted to. His own playing was something he wasn't happy about since it still was bit of searching for right way. And the box he had gained from the other Dark Link had several songs, his favorite included, but it played them randomly so he never knew what it would play when he opened it. Yet, just hearing music was already calming him down.

The dark Hylian sighed a bit as he finished the song. "Well... Right sounds but bit too slow..." He mumbled with a slight sorrowful smile. Yet, he tried again and this time he played bit faster. It was still slightly too slow but he was getting into there. Third round went fully right and Dark smiled. He had _finally_ managed to play one song fully right.

Just when the dark Hylian was willing to play the song for fourth time, Sheik jumped down from the tree and nearly right in front of him. Dark shrieked in full surprise, scrambled to his feet and backed off a bit. "Sheik! Damn it, don't scare me like that!" He half shouted while trying to calm down.

The Sheikah grinned a bit and crossed his arms over his chest. "That ocarina. Do you know who it belongs to?" He stated while ignoring fully the dark Hylian's words. "In fact, I could ask... Did you _steal_ it?" Sheik continued bit harshly.

Dark jumped in slight start. "The only one I stole this from was Ganondorf!" He barked back in defense. "And no. I don't know who this belongs to... But you do, don't you?" The dark Hylian continued bit more calmer but still looked in slight glare at the Sheikah.

Sheik nodded and calmed down. "It belongs to the Sage of Forest, Saria." He replied but thought very quickly after that: _"Or at least it _did_ belong to her... Until she gave it to Link when he left the Kokiri Forest."_

"The Sage of Forest...?" Dark inquired in near fright. "I... I didn't know..." He whispered and looked at the wooden ocarina. Suddenly he offered the ocarina to the Sheikah. "Here! Take it to her!" The dark Hylian nearly shouted frantically.

Sheik was bit startled and took a step backwards before already shaking his head. "Nope. You're having it so you return it." He stated surprisingly calmly. Dark let his hand fall as he became fully nervous. "I'm sure you can figure out where you can meet her, right?" The Sheikah continued carefully.

The dark Hylian nodded and sighed. "The area before the Forest Temple." Sheik nodded his confirmation for it. Dark sighed again and looked at the ocarina in his hands. "I... If I had known, I would've returned it to her." He half mumbled while putting the ocarina into his pocket. The dark Hylian took once a deep breath and raised his gaze up. "I probably should head to there..." He stated and started to walk past the Sheikah and into the first bridge.

Storm was waiting for him on the bigger are of the lake. The stallion came straight over to the dark Hylian once he had crossed the second and last bridge. Dark petted the horse for a while before getting up to his back. He glanced towards the lonely tree but Sheik was already gone from there. "We need to visit at Kokiri Forest." He told to the horse and Storm nodded before already starting to make his way out of there.

It wasn't long ride but Dark didn't go through the normal way. Instead of going into the short pathway, he stopped the stallion a while before it and got off of the horse. "Better not let them see me. I'm not exactly on the mood of crashing up with the Kokiris currently." The dark Hylian told to Storm. The horse nodded in understanding. Dark sighed once before he took more shadowy form and merged into the surrounding shadows of the forest. After that it was very quick and pretty much straight road into the sacred forest meadow. The slight labyrinth was fully free of monsters but the dark Hylian didn't come out of the Shadows before reaching his destination.

Dark took once a deep breath and walked to the slight platform in there. He crouched down to one knee and bowed his head. After that he talked the words both aloud as well as in his mind since he wasn't certain how the Sages would hear him. "Sage of Forest, I call for Your name. Please, I ask of You... Show Yourself to me if You believe that I am worthy of Your presence." The dark Hylian was fully out of knowing if the words were anything worthy of trying but he hoped it to be good enough.

Soon a greenish light came from the sky right into the tree stub before Saria already came down. She smiled at Dark on the second she saw him. "Hey. Been a while since I last saw you." The Sage started before giggling a bit. "And there's no need of being so formal with it. Just simple request of me coming to see you is enough." Saria continued with a gentle smile.

The dark Hylian blushed and turned his gaze off. "Oh, and you can stand up. No need to be kneeling in front of me." The Kokiri continued and giggled again. "So, what brings you to here?" She continued, leaned bit forward and clapped her hands together behind her back.

Dark tried to calm down as he carefully stood up. "I..." He started, gulped once before taking a deep breath. "I came to return something that belongs to you. I did not know that it was yours to begin with for if I had known this, I would have given it much earlier." The dark Hylian finally said and started to search for the Ocarina from his pocket.

Saria frowned and stood up straight. "Well, first of all, there's no need of speaking so formally..." She said bit slowly while watching him search for something. Once Dark pulled out the Fairy Ocarina, the Sage gasped in shock while bringing her hands over her mouth. "That... That's..." She whispered before raising her gaze into the red eyes of the dark Hylian. "How is it possible for you to have the Ocarina I gave to Link years ago?" Saria finally asked while trying to calm down.

"I-I..." Dark started while being fully bewildered and he gulped once again. "I... Stole it from Ganondorf years ago..." He half whispered while taking a step backwards. This little new information had fully taken his courage off. _"This was Link's?! How come I never knew about it?!"_ The dark Hylian thought in slight panic.

"From Ganondorf? What are you saying? That Link _gave_ it to him?!" Saria nearly shouted and took few steps towards Dark with anger in her eyes. The dark Hylian gulped and backed off a bit.

"N-no... I highly doubt he would've just _given_ it... T-there has to be a good explanation for it!" Dark replied with slightly shaking voice. He _really_ didn't want to anger any of the Sages. And especially not anyone _this_ close to Link. The dark Hylian tried to gather his crumbling courage even though he took one more step backwards. "Um... Ganondorf was going to smash this so I kinda stole it from him before that..." He mumbled, kneeled down and kept his face away from the Sage while offering the Fairy Ocarina to her.

Saria was bit startled but soon she grinned bit mischievously. "I won't take it." She stated while crossing her arms over her chest. "Take it to Link and bring him to here to give full explanation how he _lost_ the Ocarina." The Sage continued, turned her back to the fully startled dark Hylian and called back the greenish light. "I will come back once you bring him over." Saria called before stepping into the light and returning into the Chamber of Sages.

Dark stared after her before slowly standing up. He glanced at the pinkish Ocarina in his hands before pocketing it. _"Guess I don't have a choice..."_ The dark Hylian thought bit sorrowfully, glanced once around the place before leaving the clearing and going into the Shadows at the longish pathway.

Dark returned to the Hyrule Field very quickly. Storm came over to him on the second he saw the Hylian. "We'd better find Link... I gotta talk with him..." The dark Hylian half muttered before already taking his way towards the Hyrule Castle. The stallion galloped through the field but slowed into a trot after the bridge. They moved carefully through the Market Place into the road to the castle.

Dark left Storm at the stables and went to find the Hero. Link was at the second country yard watching over a simple fighting practice. He wasn't exactly asked for it but he sometimes watched it just to check how good the guards and knights actually were. Besides, he had to choose the ones who would gain the mark of Knighthood and for that he needed to know what the guards actually _could_ do.

The dark Hylian walked to the yard but stayed further off since he didn't want to bother. Yet, on the second Link noticed him, he already left to walk towards him. "Haven't seen you for the whole day. Hungry?" The Hero started calmly but grinned a bit at the inquiry.

Dark blushed a bit and turned his gaze off while shaking his head. "No... Not this time around..." He half mumbled, took once a deep breath and turned his gaze into Link. "I need to talk with you." The dark Hylian continued and gave a quick glance around him. "In private." He added after few knights walked past them.

The Hero nodded and left to lead the way. Dark followed while desperately trying to figure out how he could explain the situation. The duo walked into a wide clearing through a very hard road in a forest close to the castle's borders. "Pretty much no-one comes into here besides the two of us." Link started as he turned around and sat down. "So, what's the problem?" He inquired calmly while the dark Hylian sat down in front of him.

Dark took once a deep breath, gulped and pulled the Fairy Ocarina out. "This." He whispered and gave the instrument to the Hero. Link gasped in shock and checked the Ocarina fully.

"I... I thought I lost this... Long ago..." The Hero whispered as he traced the instrument fully. Soon his fully startled expression melted into slightly sorrowful smile. "Saria gave me this when I left the Kokiri Forest." He said quietly, closed his eyes and brought the Fairy Ocarina to his heart. Yet, soon he sighed heavily and brought it to his lap while keeping his gaze in the pinkish thing. "Ganondorf... He stole it when I was returning to the castle. I guess he mistook it for the Ocarina of Time." Link continued and fell silent for a while. "I... I never dared to say a word to Saria." He said quietly and closed his eyes while bowing his head. "I don't know why but I feared that she'd get angry at me." The Hero explained and chuckled shortly. "She never inquired about the Ocarina of Time when she saw it. I could see her confusion but she never said a word about me using different Ocarina..." He sighed heavily and shook his head. "H-how... How did you end up with this?" Link finally inquired and raised his confused and curious gaze up into the dark Hylian.

Dark slumped a bit and gulped again. "I..." He started but fell silent for a while as he closed his eyes and his ears drooped. "I stole it from Ganondorf years ago..." The dark Hylian whispered for the third time that day. "He... He was going to destroy it but... I took it from him before that..." He continued and shrugged. "After that it's been with me. I... I didn't know it belongs to you. I... I found out about it just a while ago..." Dark explained and became even more hesitant the further he talked.

The dark Hylian gulped again and took once a deep breath to try and stay calm. After that he explained fully his meeting with Sheik and Saria. Link listened quietly and nodded once in a while. "So..." The Hero started and gulped. "S-she knows that I kinda lost the Ocarina...?" He inquired bit hesitantly.

Dark sighed and nodded. "Yeah... Sorry 'bout that..." He replied and kept his gaze off of Link. He had known that the truth of him having an Ocarina would eventually come out but he had _never_ thought it to end into something like _this_. The Hero sighed heavily and stood up.

"Well, I don't see any of other choice than to go and see her." Link stated and offered his hand to the dark Hylian. Dark gulped but let the Hero pull him up. "Dark... This isn't your fault. Not even slightest bit." Link continued calmly and confidently. That got the dark Hylian to raise his confused gaze up. "In fact, I owe you for this. You saved the Ocarina from being destroyed _and_ you've been keeping it in amazing condition. Plus both I and Saria finally got to know what happed to it." The Hero explained with a smile. "Now... We'd better get going before we lose the day fully." He said and nearly put the Ocarina into his pocket. "OH! You'd better hold on to that for now." Link stated and winked once while giving the pinkish instrument back to Dark.

The dark Hylian once again followed the Hero. They both were silent as they made their way out of the clearing, through the country yard and into the stables. The ride to the entrance of Kokiri Forest was also done in pure silence. Since Link couldn't use Shadows nor could Dark take him into the Realm of Shadows without breaking the rules of Shadows, they had to continue their trek on the much slower way. The Hero spoke very quickly with few of the Kokiris that came to meet them. After that the road continued up into the Lost Woods and Link navigated his way through it very quickly. From there forward was only the slight maze which still was luckily empty of enemies.

The dark Hylian followed the Hero to the podium. "Saria, we're here!" Link called surprisingly without any of hesitation. The Sage of Forest came down very quickly after those words. She crossed her hands over her chest and just stared at the Hero while making him feel uncomfortable.

"I never asked you why you weren't using the Fairy Ocarina anymore. I had thought that since you're the Hero of _Time_, you had to use the Ocarina of _Time_. At least to open the doors in Temple of Time but after that..." Saria started, sighed a bit and shook her head. "I didn't know what to feel about the fact that you weren't using the Fairy Ocarina. But now I ask it, Link..." The Sage continued and locked eyes with the Hero. "What happened to the Ocarina I gave you?" She asked fully sternly and bit angrily.

Link had already stood up since he had also slightly kneeled on the podium as he had called for the Sage but now he gulped and gave a nervous smile while backing away by a step. "Um... You see..." He started but gulped again, sighed and sat down while slumping a bit and dropping his gaze into the pedestal. "Saria, I... When I went back to the castle after getting both the Goron Ruby and Zora Sapphire, I crashed up with Ganondorf. Zelda had already gone past me with Impa on a white horse. She threw the Ocarina of Time to me. It went into the slight stream around the castle's walls. Ganondorf came soon after that. I... I was a fool at then and tried to challenge him. As can guess, he struck me down easily. The Fairy Ocarina fell out of my pocket and Ganondorf stole it. I guess he thought it to be the Ocarina of Time. Before I could say something, he already rode away." The Hero explained bit sorrowfully.

Link sighed and raised his gaze up to meet Saria's eyes again. "After that I fetched the Ocarina of Time and continued forward to get the Master Sword. Next thing was that I woke up seven years later and... _Everything_ had changed. I..." The Hero sighed heavily. "I _wanted_ to tell you what had happened but I... I didn't have the courage to explain." He said and sighed sorrowfully. "You never asked and I didn't dare to explain. I know I _should've_ but... I just couldn't find the right words." Link continued, bowed his head and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Saria. I really am."

Dark stood behind the Hero and didn't take any of part into the conversation. He felt bit out of place at there but he didn't dare to leave either. Suddenly the Sage of Forest turned her gaze into the dark Hylian. "The Fairy Ocarina, please." She requested and gave her hand waitingly towards Dark.

The dark Hylian gulped, took the Ocarina and gently gave it to Saria. After that he took few steps backwards since he was certain that he shouldn't make himself known at all. The Sage turned back towards the Hero. "So, what do you want to do with this?" She inquired while looking bit angrily at Link.

The Hero gulped once and glanced at Dark. Eventually he sighed and gave a sorrowful smile. "Honestly speaking... I would let Dark keep it." Link stated bit sheepishly while shocking both the dark Hylian _and_ the Sage of Forest. Saria stared at the Hero with wide eyes before turning her gaze into Dark for a while until her eyes returned into Link.

"May I inquire why you'd do such a thing?" Saria asked with a frown. Yet, it wasn't angry one but only curious. She had a feeling that she knew why the Hero said that but she wanted to hear it from _him_.

Link sighed while still smiling. "First of all, the Ocarina has been with him for years. And second, I've heard him play it few times. Not that I _knew_ it to be this Ocarina. Just that he played _an_ Ocarina. And third, which I'm sorry to say, is that I have the Ocarina of Time and... Well, I can't really play two Ocarinas. I'm _not_ trying to get rid of something that's important to me but..." He started to explain and gave a glance at the dark Hylian before already returning his gaze into Saria." But I've been trying to find an Ocarina for him. And if I had had your Ocarina with me, I would've come to ask from you if it's okay with you that I'd give it to Dark." The Hero continued and looked bit pleadingly at the Sage of Forest.

"That is the first Ocarina I have ever had and it's very important to me." Link stated with full meaning. "But I also know that Dark would keep extremely good care of it. Plus, I know it would actually be played too." He explained knowingly.

Saria was still hesitant but she eventually offered the Ocarina to Dark. "I want to hear you play it." She stated sternly. The dark Hylian gulped and glanced bit worriedly at the Hero before taking the offered instrument. Link just simply nodded while keeping his gaze in him. Dark gulped again and bit fearfully closed his eyes while bringing the Fairy Ocarina to his lips. After that he played _Song of Healing_ for the fourth time that day.

Both the Hero and the Sage listened to the song very silently. Once the dark Hylian stopped, Saria was first one to speak. "That was really unique one. Was it your own work?" She inquired curiously.

Dark gulped and took a step backwards while shaking his head. "N-no... I learned it from a friend of mine..." He replied hesitantly while scratching the back of his head. The dark Hylian glanced at Link in hopes of getting help but the Hero stayed silent, nodded and just smiled at him.

"Do you know the name of the song?" The Sage continued to ask. Dark nodded but it took a short while before he got the words out of his mouth.

"Um... It's called as _Song of Healing_." The dark Hylian eventually stated. Saria nodded again and smiled a bit.

"That Ocarina... Will you _promise_ to keep very good care of it?" The Sage asked nearly pleadingly. Dark nodded straight off without any kind of hesitation. "And it's okay with you, Link, for him to have it?" She continued and turned to look at the Hero. Link nodded his confirmation. Saria sighed a bit but smiled and nodded to the dark Hylian. "Very well then. The Fairy Ocarina will be yours, Dark Link. Take good care of it." She finally said with a wide smile. "Though, somehow I always knew that the Ocarina would eventually change owners." The Sage continued bit confused while dropping her gaze down with a slight frown.

"So... Um... You're not mad at me...?" The Hero inquired bit nervously. Saria raised her gaze back up bit startled. Link gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head but when the Sage of Forest started to laugh, he was fully confused and glanced at the dark Hylian. Dark just simply gave a shrug while frowning a bit.

Saria shook her head and gave a slight grin. "I never was angry with either of you." She started calmly before already winking. "I only wanted to tease you two a bit. In fact, I..." The Sage continued but stopped herself very quickly. _"I always felt bad for Dark Link not having an Ocarina of his own..."_ She thought but for some reason she didn't feel like saying that out loud. Right after that short thought, Saria already smiled widely. "In fact, I was going to suggest it myself." She stated with a 'as-a-matter-of-fact' voice.

The Hero frowned a bit but didn't press the matter at all. He felt that Saria left something unsaid but he didn't feel like having the rights to inquire about it. Even Dark frowned a bit but let it slide. He had a feeling that whatever she was hiding would eventually come out but now wasn't the time. "So... We're good?" Link eventually inquired and Saria nodded happily. "Great! Then it's decided. The Fairy Ocarina is Dark's!" The Hero exclaimed eagerly.

Dark was bit startled but very soon he started to blush and turned his gaze off. "Um... Thanks..." He half whispered before dropping his eyes into the Ocarina in his hands. _"My own Ocarina... Sounds kinda nice..."_ He thought with a slight smile on his face. For a short while the dark Hylian thought about asking if he could recolor it or do some kind of decoration into the Fairy Ocarina but decided against it. It wouldn't change the sound of the instrument and he wasn't fully sure that Link and Saria would like the idea. After all, it was originally the Sage's and given to the Hero. He was _not_ going to ruin such important things just because he wasn't fully happy with the color. Besides, it was nothing more than just getting used to it.

Soon after this short conversation, Saria left back into the Chamber of Sages and the two Hylians started to return back to the Hyrule Field. Again, the walk was done in silence but this time it was because Dark was fully wrapped up in the pinkish Ocarina in his hands. And Link didn't want to bother him. The dark Hylian didn't even realize how they had made their way out of the Lost Woods and through the Kokiri Forest before he already was standing at the entrance of the Kokiri Forest and with the two horses right next to them.

"So... You coming back to the castle or what you got planned for today?" The Hero inquired while getting up to Epona's back. Dark mimicked him without much of thought and the duo rode out of the short pathway. They stopped once the field came into their view.

"I... I think I could go back to Lake Hylia for a while longer..." The dark Hylian finally replied and put the Ocarina into his pocket to keep it safe. Link nodded while smiling.

"Okay. I'll see you later in the evening, then?" He asked and Dark just simply nodded. "Alright. Stay safe and have fun with the Ocarina." The Hero continued and winked once before he already got the mare to move. Storm stood on his place while he and the dark Hylian watched Link ride away. It didn't take long before Dark turned the stallion towards the lake and they left back to there.

Very soon the dark Hylian was back underneath the lonely tree. This time around he was actually playing the Ocarina with bit more of courage. He played _Song of Healing_ couple of times before he was ready to try something else. Yet, before he got to start a new song, Sheik already came in front of him.

"And how the freaking many times are you going to play that one and same song?" The Sheikah asked annoyed. Dark was bit startled but this time around he didn't scramble to his feet. Instead he just gave a sheepish smile and shrugged.

"Dunno. As many times as I feel like." He replied with a grin. Sheik nearly growled and shook his head.

"And what are you doing having the Ocarina still in your hands?" The Sheikah asked and crossed his arms over his chest. _"I thought either Saria or Link would've taken it from him by now... Unless he never met with either of them."_ He thought and slightly glared at the dark Hylian.

Dark took once a deep breath before he explained fully how his meeting with Saria and Link had gone. Sheik listened carefully while hating the slight fact that after all he had seen and heard, he still waited for the dark Hylian to do an unforgivable mistake. Once Dark was done, the Sheikah nodded and turned around before already starting to walk away. The dark Hylian stared after him but eventually just shrugged and returned his notion back into the Fairy Ocarina in his hands.

For a short while Sheik thought about going to talk with Link and find out whether or not Dark was telling the truth but he decided against it very quickly. Once he was out of the sight, having gone past the scientist's house, he swiftly climbed up to the roof. The dark Hylian had started to play the Ocarina again which gave Sheik a chance to get into a better place. From there he just listened as Dark played the Fairy Ocarina. It didn't have as clear sounds as what the Ocarina of Time did but the dark Hylian knew what he was doing... Even with him playing the _Song of Healing_ as every other song.

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A/N: Bit of notion for other games too in there. ;) SS has the harp. MM has the guitar. And ST has the pan flute. Link's _seriously_ musical! XD Is there even a Zelda game where Link _doesn't_ have a musical instrument? ^.- Also, the other Dark is _Swamp Dragon Princess_' Dark Link. We've been having bit of an RP between the duo. And SDP's Dark taught my Darky how to play the Ocarina. ^^; So, as can see, I _do_ try to bring up all that has been given or taught to him through letters or RP. =)

So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	7. April Fool's Day 2014

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary: **Dark has a harsh wake up call and the day seems to just crash down from there forward. But after having a slight conversation with his stallion, the dark Hylian changes things around... Until he realizes that he met someone unexpected at the Market.

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**Situations from their lives  
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CHAPTER 7: April Fool's Day 2014

Dark woke up slowly but started to frown as he felt something touching his nose. It felt like tapping with something hairy. The dark Hylian opened his eyes slowly but screamed out on the second he saw the black spider on his face. He swatted it off before scrambling up and far away from the creature.

It took a while from him to realize that Link was laughing as he had a black toy spider hanging from a rope that was tied to a short piece of wood. "What the hell, Link?!" Dark screamed in both confusion and anger. "Are you trying to give me a heart-attack or something?" He inquired while staring at the Hero and crossing his arms over his chest.

Slowly Link started to calm down but he was still smiling widely and chuckling once in a while. "It's first of April." The Hero stated as a fact. Dark was still bit angry but he only frowned at the reply.

"So?" He inquired while not realizing a thing of the explanation. "What does that have to do with freaking me out?" The dark Hylian continued bit harshly.

Link blinked few times and frowned as he finally calmed down. "It's April Fool's Day. That's what." He replied but even that didn't take off Dark's confusion at all. The Hero gulped and gave a nervous smile. "Um... I _have_ told you about this day... Right?" He half inquired while starting to get even more nervous.

The dark Hylian still frowned and gave a slow shake of his head. "No. You have not. What _exactly_ is 'April Fool's Day'? I don't think I've heard about that before." He answered bit accusingly.

Link gulped again before he groaned and crashed to his back on the bed. "Damn it..." He muttered, took once a deep breath and sat back up. "April Fool's Day is a day when people do small jokes and pranks to each other. Nothing to harm but just to fool around." The Hero explained as calmly as he could.

Dark nearly deadpanned at the given information. "And so you decided to freak the hell out of me as the first thing in the darn morning?" He asked nearly disbelieving. Link gulped again but nodded. "Gee, thanks a lot! Having really great start for a day that I had no knowledge of!" The dark Hylian half barked and turned his gaze off of the Hero. _"I'll get my revenge..."_ He thought bit angrily but sighed soon. _"But I doubt I'll know how..."_

"Um... Just be careful out there today." Link half whispered and crawled next to Dark. "I'm sorry I forgot to explain today to you. I should've told things out long ago. I'm sorry." He continued and hugged the dark Hylian from behind. "Just stay on alert. People can come up with quite harsh jokes if they're up for it." The Hero warned and Dark just simply nodded.

_"I'm going to hate this day..."_ The dark Hylian thought fully miserably, took once a deep breath and tried to calm down. He would've gladly just stayed the day in the room. "Link?" Dark called carefully and the Hero hummed a bit to show he was listening. "Could I just stay here for the day? You know... Drawing something..." He inquired while praying he could just keep the door locked for the whole day.

Link sighed and shook his head. It was surprisingly beautiful day considering that the last couple of days had been cloudy and bit rainy. "If you fear this day so much, how about you'd head to Lake Hylia then?" He countered bit worriedly. _"He gotta face the day someday. So, better sooner than later..."_

Dark sighed heavily and slumped slightly. "Fine." He muttered and pulled free from Link's hold. Without a word he started to gather his clothes and headed to bathroom. Link sighed heavily once the dark Hylian was out of the room. He crawled over to his own side of the bed and wrote a short note to Dark. After that the Hero left the note over to the dark Hylian's night table before already doing the bed. Once things seemed calm enough, he glanced at the locked door to the bathroom before sighing again and leaving the room.

When Dark came back from changing clothes, he was bit disappointed to find that Link had left. The dark Hylian sighed but he noticed the paper on his night table and went to check it in bit of fear of it being another "prank" from the Hero. Feeling bit suspicious he took the paper up and carefully opened it. It only had couple of lines of text. _"Dark, if today ends up being something that you'll hate, I swear I'll make it up to you. Just try and take it easy. Link."_

Dark sighed and put the short note down. _"Well, you'd better be ready to take up on that offer since I really have a bad feeling about today..."_ He thought bit miserably as he took up his sword and shield. This time they were along just in case things would go too far. He really didn't want to keep on relying to his knife every single time. It was good to have something longer in use too.

The dark Hylian left the room while feeling fully uncertain and slightly fearful. He was grateful that the corridor was empty at then and there, so he leaned against the closed door of his and Link's shared room, closed his eyes and took few deep breaths. _"Okay. You can do this. It's just one day among others... With people having actually _rights_ to be cruel..."_ The dark Hylian sighed heavily, pushed himself off of the door and tried to look _much_ more confident and courageous than what he felt.

Before he even got out of the castle, things started to go wrong already. On one of the hallways was a group of three guards. It was clear that one of them noticed Dark coming down towards them and the guy nodded to his group members. Right after that they started to come up with quite cruel jokes about the dark Hylian.

"So, what's black and has red eyes and is dangling from the tree?" One of the guards asked loudly enough for Dark to hear him. The two others shook their heads. "A dark Hylian that lost his balance!" The guard half shouted and got round of snickers from his comrades.

"Okay, what about this one. It's wet, dark and has red eyes." Second one inquired with a grin. The two other guards stayed silent which gave the rights for the asker to continue his words. "Dark Hylian pushed into lake!" He exclaimed.

While others laughed, the said dark Hylian gave a slight shiver at the thought. He tried to ignore the trio as they went on within same lines. Just before he got to the corner, one of the trio shouted one word after him: "COWARD!"

Dark stopped and turned around. "What did you just call me?" He inquired as calmly as he could. The trio faked to look startled and they glanced at each other.

"You think I was talking to you, huh?" The caller asked, gave a chuckle and shook his head. "Oh, no, no, no... I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about _this_." He continued and showed very quickly scribbled picture of cow. "And I called Cow _art_." The guard continued while keeping his expression normal.

The dark Hylian gave a slight frown and disbelieving look but eventually shrugged. "Right..." He mumbled, turned around and continued his way. Right after he had gotten past the corner the group of three guards burst into laughter. Dark flinched very slightly and fastened his pace a bit. _"I really hate this day..."_

Luckily he got out of the castle without more of incidents. For a short while he did think about just going to fetch Storm and leave but he decided against it. _"I can't run every single time this day comes forth... Better get used to it now than fear this day for rest of my life..."_ Dark thought, took once a deep breath and started to head towards the Market Place. _"Just take it easy... If you show they got you, then you've lost it... Just... Play along..."_ He tried to look confident even though he would've gladly just ran away.

The Market Place was usually filled with talking but now it had laughter as the main part. As the dark Hylian came to there he could very quickly realize that the kids were doing different kind of little tricks. The adults were surprisingly patient with their jokes. Few of the grownups even did their own slight pranks. Main ones were about too high price but some other things were there too.

Dark calmed down a bit as most of the people were more interested of each other than of him. It gave him slight time to get used to the day but very soon he was already in another prank without even doing anything else than being at wrong place at wrong time. The dark Hylian didn't have much of time for anything other than trying to shield himself and gasp when the water was thrown right at him.

The older man in the kitchen was laughing very loudly and even the woman was slightly chuckling. "I... I'm sorry. I was meaning to just startle you by the empty bucket. I..." She told but Dark wasn't fully sure if she was sincere at all. He just simply gave a slight shrug and smile.

"It's okay. No harm done." The dark Hylian replied and started to walk away from there while trying to dry the water off. _"Don't know if she meant it but at least she had the courage to apologize..."_ He thought while venturing into the main area of the Market. It was then that other people started to notice him. Dark tried to stay calm and ignore all of the cruel things people came up about him. Usually the crowd didn't dare to talk of him like that but the day gave them the chance to say what they really thought and disguise it as a joke and words that meant nothing.

Suddenly a group of four kids came to him. They tried to look very innocent as they presented a piece of cake to him. "For you. We've... Well, we've been more around the Hero even though you've done some really neat things for us." One of the kids said. The dark Hylian was bit startled but smiled to the kids right until one of the four pulled on a rope and the cake flew off of the wooden plate and straight to Dark's face.

The kids laughed and ran off while the dark Hylian was wiping the cake off of his face. "Nice. Real nice..." He mumbled and tasted on the cake only to realize that it wasn't eatable one. Dark sighed and used bit of magic of water to clean the fake cake off of him. After that he dried his hair, face and clothes.

For few hours the dark Hylian managed to avoid any possible pranks and tricks until one of the carpenters came over. Dark had helped them from time to time so he wasn't that of surprised when the guy inquired if he could help them. He nodded and smiled a bit as he followed the guy to a place where the group of carpenters were building a house. Once at there the carpenter turned around with nearly pleading look on his face. "Listen, we're fully busy in here with our work so... Is there any of possibilities you could do some errands for us?" He inquired and glanced towards the working area.

Dark smiled and nodded. "Yeah, sure. Just name what you need." He answered without a second thought. _"At least this'll be much safer than walking around the Market."_ The dark Hylian thought while calming down.

The carpenter turned towards his comrades. "Hey, guys! What things do we need to get the house done?!" He inquired straight off. The other workers stopped for a while before they smiled and started to shout out fully unexpected things. The guy with Dark nodded and once all had been told out, he turned towards the dark Hylian again. "Okay, so we need the next things... Golden carpet, Glass-headed hammer, Freezing leather and Spotted paint." The guy listed out.

Dark blinked in full confusion. "I... I've never heard of those before..." He half whispered and scratched the back of his head. "Y-you sure about those?" The dark Hylian inquired and got simple nod for an answer. "Um... You wouldn't have any of idea where I should start searching for those?" He continued while feeling fully uncertain of the things listed. _"Are those even real things?"_ Dark wondered but decided to keep that unvoiced.

"Try the carpet seller first. He quite certainly will know about the Golden carpet. From there you probably can get more ideas of where to head next." The guy replied with a shrug. The dark Hylian just gave a slow nod while still feeling uncertain of the situation.

"O-okay... I'll try to be swift..." He finally said and started to make his way out.

Once Dark was out of the hearing range, the five carpenters started to laugh. "That'll keep him busy for now!" One of them stated with a grin. Others nodded before continuing their work.

The dark Hylian made his way to the carpet seller. As he waited for his turn, Dark checked around the shop. He found different shaded yellow carpets but none of them felt like gold. Eventually he got to the seller and inquired about the first thing on his list. It was clear that the shop keeper had hard time of keeping his expression in control. "Um... Because of them being so expensive, I don't have them. But, I'm sure you can try your luck at the one selling odd things. She lives at the back alley from here. Right at the very end of the road." He replied as casually as he could which certainly looked hard to be done.

Dark frowned slightly but nodded. "Thanks..." He half whispered before leaving the place. _"Something's not right..."_ The dark Hylian thought as he walked down the road he had been pointed to. The alley had only one house and that looked quite rundown too. Dark hesitated a bit before he knocked the door.

The door creaked and gave in slightly. The dark Hylian hesitated even more as he pushed the door open. "Hello? Anyone in here?" He called while carefully getting inside.

The place was fully destroyed. It looked like it had been abandoned decades ago. Small bugs ran here and there with spider webs having taken most of the place. The stairs to the second floor were fully crashed without any of chances to reach the top. The doors were broken and crashed to the ground.

Dark walked around the first floor but it all looked the same. He sighed heavily and left the place. _"This is really starting to look like another trick played on me."_ The dark Hylian thought bit angrily as he made his way back to the carpet seller's shop. "The place looks fully abandoned." Dark called straight off when he got to the door.

"OH! Right! I'm sorry. She moved to another location few years ago. How silly of me for forgetting." The seller stated immediately. "The new address is right to the other side from here. The very last house." He continued and pointed straight through the door.

The dark Hylian sighed a bit but nodded and left. He wasn't fully certain of the explanation but he thought it to mean the last house he could find. Dark made his way through several alleys and roads until he crashed up with equally crashed down house.

He sighed heavily and leaned against the wall behind him. _"This is getting me nowhere..."_ Dark thought as he made his way back towards the carpet seller. On his way he _tried_ to ask from other people if they knew anything about the odd items seller. Yet, the only reply he got was either being ignored or then told to scram. Very few told that they had no knowledge of what he was trying to inquire about. Couple of persons started to tell some odd stories about the seller but out of the look on their face, the dark Hylian was pretty sure that they were lying. Though, the later heard laughing was only starting to get him to believe that this was what people called as 'wild goose chase'.

After having been given the wrong address for few more times, Dark finally had enough. He returned to the carpenters and gave fully apolitical look. "Sorry, guys, but I wasn't lucky enough to find the needed things." The dark Hylian called with a slight shrug.

The carpenters glanced at each other before starting to laugh. "Took you long enough to realize the situation!" The leader half shouted while laughing. Dark flinched very slightly but luckily that went fully past the five workers notion.

"Right... I'll see you guys around..." The dark Hylian half mumbled before starting to make his way out. _"Should've figured it out much quicker..."_ He thought bit angrily as he walked out of the Market Place and back to the castle. _"I'm out of here. I really should've left straight to Lake Hylia like Link suggested."_ Dark thought and made his way straight to the stables... Only to find Storm missing.

He ran to the stall in hopes of the stallion having just laid down but no black horse. _"What the hell?!"_ The dark Hylian thought in near panic. He looked around once and noticed the young lad that was in charge of the Hero's mare and of Dark's stallion. "Hey! Where's my stallion?" Dark shouted straight off and started to make his way straight to the guy.

The young male was fully startled and backed off by a step. "I... I haven't seen your horse for whole day... I... I thought you had left early..." He said while searching nearly for every word.

"Don't lie to me! Where's Storm?!" The dark Hylian nearly screamed since things were starting to crash down on him. The stable worker took few shaky steps backwards in fear.

"I... I swear... I'm not lying!" He answered and glanced towards the stall which Epona and Storm usually shared. "And your horse is there!" The guy shouted and pointed to the stall which Dark had checked a while ago. The dark Hylian's expression hardened. "I swear! Storm is right there next to Epona! I'm not lying! Just check it!" The young lad screamed.

Dark growled but turned to look towards the stall. Storm was right there and looking nearly proud of himself. "W-what?" The dark Hylian mumbled before groaning. **_"You just _HAD_ to?!"_** He nearly screamed to the horse whom only gave a slight neigh as an answer. Dark sighed heavily. "Sorry... I'm _really_ sorry for my actions. Seemingly my Shadow stallion decided to try and fool me." He said and gave fully apolitical look to the stable worker. "I... My actions weren't justified. I'm sorry."

The young lad just gave a slight nod and took a step backwards. "Um... Can I still look after your stallion?" He inquired fully worriedly. Dark sighed again but nodded.

"Of course. Thanks and... I'm honestly fully sorry... I..." The dark Hylian replied but trailed off very soon. The stable worker smiled and started to calm down.

"April Fool's Day. Not exactly the most fun of all of the days." He started and shrugged. "One of the reasons I rather stay here for the day. Like the Infirmary, the stables are prank free area." The guy continued surprisingly calmly.

Dark blinked few times in surprise. "Really? I didn't know about that part..." He replied and finally relaxed. "Thanks. I'm going to be with Storm for a while and... Well, I might head out later on..." The dark Hylian continued before already walking to his stallion. **_"So, you just decided to play a prank on me, huh?"_** He inquired straight off.

Storm nodded without a second thought. **"Thought it would be fun."** The stallion replied in neighing which Dark understood without any of problems.

The dark Hylian sighed and leaned against the door of the stall. **_"I was thinking about leaving to Lake Hylia. And I'd get there faster with your help."_** He stated while carefully petting the horse. Storm gave a slight snort before pulling backwards.

**"Not gonna happen. I'm perfectly happy right now and I'm not leaving."** The stallion said firmly while shaking his head. **"You can head there by yourself. I'm _not_ taking you."** The black horse continued.

Dark was fully startled. It was first time that Storm refused to follow his command. **_"W-what...?"_** He asked in disbelieve. **_"You've _never_ backed off from my request!"_** The dark Hylian continued while staring wide-eyed at his stallion.

Storm shook his head and backed off another step. **"Well, first time for everything."** He replied and laid down to the hay next to Epona. **"Besides... Have you seen the Hero lately?"** The stallion continued calmly.

Dark frowned but thought through the inquiry. **_"No... Not since morning..."_** He finally replied and looked at his horse. **_"Why you asking?"_** The dark Hylian inquired bit puzzled.

Storm gave a slight laugh. **"Since Epona is here, he hasn't really left the castle's areas, right?"** He started carefully but didn't give a chance for Dark to reply. **"And do you honestly think _he'd_ try and avoid this kind of day?"** The stallion continued and got his owner to frown even deeper. **"Keep your eyes open. You might see him. Besides... How does everyone react to him? Do you _honestly_ think they'd go and prank the Hero of Time and Hyrule?"** The black horse inquired.

Slowly Dark started to realize what Storm was getting at. **_"Disguise... _That's_ what Link is having!"_** He nearly shouted as the realization hit him. The black stallion only nodded. **_"Thanks Storm! I think you saved my day!"_** The dark Hylian nearly shouted before he already left the stables and headed towards his and Link's shared room. _"Why the hell I didn't think about this?! I can take part to the day too as long as people don't know it's me! This is going to be so much of fun!"_ He thought excited as he tried to come up with the best possible disguise to keep people from knowing him.

Dark was lucky enough to get into the room without crashing up with anyone. Once there he locked the door and started to search around the room. Eventually he found two old blankets. The dark Hylian took them out and gave a sharp strike to them. Luckily they weren't dusty. The first one had been white but the time had changed its color. The second one was dark brown, closer to black.

Dark smiles as he draped the dark blanket around himself so that it hid pretty much everything. After that he made his way out of the castle without being seen and soon he was back to the Market. This time around people didn't pay any of attention to him.

The dark Hylian smiled widely as moved around. This was what he had wished for a long while. To be just one among others. Some people just nodded to him and he nodded back but no-one came to take a better look at him. _"Payback time..."_ Dark thought with a slight grin on his face as he already worked out few ideas which he had seen others use to their friends.

In his disguise, the dark Hylian got better chance to watch people and learn what kind of pranks were approved. Eventually he overheard few kids talking about a pink hat and telling that it would prevent people from pranking the one wearing it. Dark honestly doubt for such words but it gave him an idea.

He kept eye on the group of kids and went to buy the said pink hat and few other things. After that he walked to the group and muffled his voice by the blanket he was wearing. "Trust your friends, kiddo. This worked for me for a long while." He said as he gave the pink hat to the one that the other kids had tried to convince. Once he had given the hat, he already left the place.

The group looked after him before turning their gaze into the hat. Dark didn't go too far but stayed out of their sight. Eventually, after a while longer of coaxing, the kid put the hat on. It didn't take long from there that people started to snicker at the kid. Sure, the dark Hylian felt bit sorry for the kid but he also knew that he quite certainly would've ended up as a victim of similar trick.

Yet, Dark hadn't been that of cruel that he would've given the hat for everyone else's fun. There was something more to the scene which very soon came up. The fooled kid gave quite harsh glare to his comrades and took the hat off. Just as he was going to throw the hat into a garbage bin, he noticed something. Carefully he took a small bag off of the hat's inner ceiling.

_"Sorry for letting your friends fool you. I hope this makes it up for you."_

In the bag was a red rupee and a small packet of special cards. The cards were surprisingly expensive but they always had one card of the Hero of Time and the rest three cards had a short story of the Hero's quest saving the worlds. The packs were very wanted and nearly everyone who had the money for them were trying to get as many as possible. If they got same short story, they exchanged them with others to get new ones.

The kid stared at the items. "Hey! Look at this!" He shouted and showed his founding with a very wide smile before sticking his tongue out at his friends. "You guys were right! It _did_ keep pranks off!" He chuckled and started to head home so he could get a full check on what the pack would contain. His friends stared wide-eyed at the scene with one of the kids having his mouth open.

Dark chuckled before he already left to see what else he could do. As he looked around the Market, he noticed someone clad into similar attire. The dark Hylian frowned a bit and backed off into the shadows of a close by alley. The unknown person looked around before it already left forward.

Dark started to follow the person while still checking if there'd be a way for a prank or few. _"If it's you, Link, then we have similar ideas of disguise."_ He thought and for a while the dark Hylian grinned as he thought about getting the unknown person revealed. _"But... Maybe it's not him..."_ Dark thought with a slight frown. _"I guess I should keep eye on him... Or her... And just see what'll happen."_ He decided and stick to being unnoticeable around the Market.

After following the mysterious person for few hours, the dark Hylian gave up. Nothing special had happened and the person seemed as no threat at all. Dark sighed and decided to see if he could actually get something to eat. He was bit of fearing for a prank but more than that he feared that his little disguise would be revealed.

Nonetheless he went for one stall and waited for his time. A while before his time came forth, Dark noticed the earlier mysterious person not too far from him. He tried not to pay any of attention to the person but something piqued his interest. For the dark Hylian's surprise, he actually got to buy the meal without any kind of trouble.

Dark carried his food to a more secluded area to get to eat in private without being bothered. The food he had bought was nothing special, just salad with both pork and chicken in it. Slowly the mysterious person started to get closer to him. "Want to share?" Dark inquired while still muffling his voice and carefully getting the wooden knife into a sharp stick that would be much easier to be used.

As the mysterious person came closer, the dark Hylian got bit better check on the clothes he/she had on. It was more of a robe by the color of dark blue. Unlike with Dark's blanket, the mystery guy's cloak actually had sleeves and more chances of getting it closed too. Yet, the thing didn't hide fully the person's shoes. Sure, Dark couldn't count on it thoroughly but he started to be quite certain of this mystery person being Link.

"Nice day, isn't it?" The dark Hylian inquired while still trying to keep his voice unknown. The person next to him just nodded while carefully starting to eat. For a while they shared the salad in silence. "So... Why didn't you tell me that I could make this day worth it by getting a disguise, Link?" Dark asked casually but hid his voice only half this time around.

The slight jump of surprise didn't go unnoticed by the dark Hylian. Dark grinned but he wasn't waiting for a reply. "Gotta say this is lot of fun when people are actually treating me normally." He half whispered while looking around the Market. The person next to him glanced at him but the movement was so quick that the dark Hylian didn't have a chance to see the person's eyes.

"You know... We could join forces to get the best of this day. How about it? You in?" Dark suggested and turned his gaze into the mystery person. The other one was silent for a long while as he/she thought the inquiry through. Eventually the person shook his/her head. The dark Hylian sighed and nodded. "Alright. I'll see you around." He half whispered before pushing himself off of the wall and leaving to venture around the Market again.

After that conversation Dark didn't see the mystery person anymore. _"Guess he had enough of the day..."_ He thought bit sorrowfully while being partly along in few more simple pranks. After that he silently left the Marker and headed back to the castle. It had been long enough day for him already... Plus he had one idea that he was eager of putting into working. It wasn't going to be easy to be performed but he was willing to give it a shot.

Dark went first into the stables before he took the dark brown blanket off. He folded it nicely as he walked to Storm. "Thanks for the idea, my friend." The dark Hylian whispered and gave an apple to both of the horses. "I'll see you guys again." He stated and left after that to make his way back to the room he shared with Link.

On his way he heard two guards. The duo started to make up cruel jokes about Dark as he came closer. "Just keep going, you two, if it's so much of fun to leave most of the main happenings off." He stated casually, grinned a bit and turned to look at the guards. "Though, think it clearly through before you talk. Especially with the person you're talking about being _this_ close. You never know when the said person is willing to start telling equally cruel jokes about you." Dark continued, grinned mischievously and gave a wink. "See ya around!" He called before continuing his way forward without the grin vanishing from his face since he had gotten the duo fully silent.

The dark Hylian had no idea where he had gained such courage to talk to the duo like that. Yet, for once he had actually managed to back himself up and show to them that he's one person among others and nothing more. Dark chuckled a bit as he glanced at the neatly folded blanket in his arms. _"Anonymity. Something I haven't had before. And something that really made this day worth it."_ He thought with a wide smile.

Once in the safety of his and Link's shared room, the dark Hylian put the blanket back to its place. He had been very careful not to get it dirtied. After that he went to find a wooden bucket from the bathroom and filled it with water. Dark came back to the main room and started to work to get the bucket of water above the door. Not exactly the most easiest feature but he did manage.

Next from there he picked up a book from his night table and flopped to the bed. _"Now it's just waiting."_ He thought while opening the book and starting to read. Though, he wasn't fully able to concentrate to the text so he just skimmed the pictures and the texts underneath them.

It took about an hour before Link came back. He frowned slightly when he saw the door open. "Dark?" The Hero called out bit worriedly and walked in while pushing the door open. Link shrieked as the coldish water fell down onto him and the wooden bucket clanged to the floor.

Dark had already been grinning as he heard the Hero come but he started to laugh when his little trick actually worked out. Not to mention that the shocked look on Link's face was adding more of fun to the situation. It took a while before the dark Hylian could talk. "Didn't know it was raining outside!" He half shouted before already laughing again.

It took some time before the Hero actually started to move. He first blinked few times before raising his gaze up and starting to calm down. Link was going to snap at Dark but his bit angry gaze softened quite quickly and he just chuckled and shook his head. "Really good one, Dark. Now, would you like to help me to clean this mess of yours?" He said with a lopsided smile.

The dark Hylian shrugged. "It's only water." He replied nonchalantly but put the book off and got up from the bed. After that he walked over to the Hero and started to dry him off. "So..." Dark started but left the unasked question hanging into air.

Link gave a quizzical look. "So... What?" He inquired bit confused as they cleaned the water off of the floor, wall and door. The darker Hylian sighed bit heavily as he closed the door.

"You know what." He exclaimed and went back to the bed. Link still looked fully puzzled as he followed Dark to the bed. The dark Hylian gave a slight glare to the Hero. "Why didn't you answer to me when we met at the Market?!" He finally barked out and crossed his arms over his chest.

Link was fully startled. "I... I wasn't at the Market. At all..." He replied bit slowly. Dark snorted and turned his gaze off.

"Right. I even shared my choice of food with you and you still keep going with a some idiotic prank. You didn't even say a word to me at there!" The dark Hylian accused bit harshly and turned to glare at the Hero. "And you even had similar disguise as what I had come up with only for it to be dark blue instead of brown!" Dark continued and turned his bit hurt gaze off of Link.

The Hero stayed silent for a while. "I wasn't at the Market, Dark. I was going to be at there but Zelda stopped me and send me to handle some menial task at the back of the castle. It took me the whole freaking day to get it done." Link explained as calmly as he could. "I wouldn't lie to you, Dark. You know that." He stated sternly before sighing nearly exaggerated. "And I would've used dark green cloak instead of blue." The Hero continued.

Dark was bit startled and he raised his gaze up with a slightly confused look. "Green instead of blue?" He inquired carefully and Link nodded. The Hero stood up and went to his closet. Soon he pulled out a cloak by the color of dark green.

"This is what I usually have at this day." Link told and threw the thing to Dark. The dark Hylian carefully took the cloak and took a good look at it. "Sorry to say this but you shared your food with someone else than me. Besides, I certainly would've replied to you instead of staying silent." The Hero stated as he came back to the bed.

Dark gulped as he brought back the look of the dark blue cloak the mystery person had had. "Oh... Shit..." The dark Hylian whispered and slumped. _"Dear Goddesses... Could it be...?"_ He thought while staring at the bed wide-eyed.

"Darky?" Link called bit worriedly. "Listen, if today's been hard and all, I got few ideas we could head for if you're interested." He started carefully while crawling closer towards Dark.

The dark Hylian blinked few times before shaking his head. "Um... No need. I just..." He started before frowning and giving very weak smile. "I think I met with Zelda at the Market and, um, thought I was talking with you..." Dark finally confessed, slumped more and looked fully nervous.

Link blinked few times in surprise before he started to laugh. "Oh dear Goddesses!" The Hero half shouted and shook his head. "Now _that's_ something new!" He stated with a wide grin. "How did that even happen?!" Link inquired fully eagerly.

The dark Hylian slumped fully but explained the situation. "Damn. She got one hell of a great disguise then." The Hero half whispered. Dark stayed silent as he waited for Link to continue but the Hero only raised one eyebrow at the dark Hylian's way of acting. "You okay, Dark? You do know that she won't hold this against you on any of way.

Dark gulped and shrugged. "You sure about that?" He inquired quietly. Link nodded without second thought.

"Of course I am! I think she thought you to be me in the first place too!" He answered and chuckled. "Oh, I wish I could've seen it!" The Hero continued and flopped to his back onto the bed. He took once a deep breath and sat up a bit by leaning against his arms. "So, you okay or do we need to try and find a way to make things right?" Link inquired bit worriedly.

Dark frowned a bit before he started to calm down. "Nah, I'm good." He finally answered and smiled. "Though... Can I ask something?" The dark Hylian continued bit hesitantly.

"Of course you can! No need to inquire _if_ you could ask something. Just shoot it!" The Hero replied straight away. Dark sighed and relaxed a bit before giving a lopsided smile.

"About next year... Can we prank people together at then?" The dark Hylian asked while feeling bit hopeful. Link smiled widely and nodded.

"Consider it as a deal." He stated before already yelping a bit when Dark glomped him.

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	8. Songfic: Angels by Within Temptation

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary: **Dark loves music and some songs he hears gets his imagination flying. The dark Hylian also loves to play with his illusion magic. With these two combined, something unique is created. (This chapter is also found from dA.)

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**Situations from their lives  
><span>**

CHAPTER 7: Angels by Within Temptation

Dark was standing in dimly lit room. He had been there often before while practicing with his illusion magic. This time around he had borrowed a CD-player... Well, he kept telling himself that he had borrowed it and would return it before she'd notice a thing. The silvery machine was close to a wall and luckily it didn't work the way of being put into a wall since he didn't have those odd little things in the walls where that tail of the music box thingy would be put.

He had been thinking about doing this for a long while. The pictures and plans had formed in his mind to be very clear thoughts. He knew exactly what he was doing. And for his luck the Shadows were willing to help him to pull this through. And he would _seriously_ need the help from them.

Dark closed his eyes and the room started to change very slowly. Nonetheless it didn't take long before it showed a rocky ground, crashed down houses, very dark sky and a castle. The castle was none other than Ganon's Castle. When the dark Hylian opened his eyes one of the Shadows pressed the play-button of the _borrowed_ thing that was disguised as a random rock and right after that the song started. Dark had created black wings into his back by illusion. Those wings looked like they were stained with blood and even looked quite broken from few places.

_Sparkling angel  
>I believe<br>You are my saviour  
>In my time of need<br>_

Dark just stood there while keeping his eyes cast into the ground. His wings were hanging and the right wing was nearly ripped. The light sound of someone's steps got him to raise his gaze up. An angel was walking towards him with a gentle smile. He had golden hair, greenish wings and blue eyes. He offered his hand to the dark Hylian.

As Dark accepted the offered help from the angel, the back wall of the room lit up slightly and started to flash with short scenes. Most of them were blurred and no focus but one jumped up from there. The second meeting between Link and Dark at the Water Temple. As the dark Hylian refused to fight and just walked back to the dead tree, the Hero followed him after very short hesitation and sat down next to him. It was the changing point of Dark's life.

_Blinded by faith,  
>I couldn't hear<br>All the whispers,  
>The warnings so clear<br>_

Dark followed the light angel. He led the dark Hylian into much lighter castle and once he had calmed down, the angel started to work with the broken wings. Dark winced but let the light angel heal him and slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the light angel had already left. The dark Hylian sighed bit sorrowfully.

The wall at the back was changing the scenes. Now it showed different kind of Shadows that Dark had met throughout his life. Yet, one kept coming back from scene to scene. A dragon. Not exactly the most nicest one but the dragon had many conversations with the dark Hylian. In these days he knew. He knew that each talk he had had with the dragon had been a warning and slight hint of the future. He just hadn't understood them.

_I see the angels,  
>I'll lead them to your door<br>There's no escape now,  
>No mercy no more<em>

Dark walked down on the path away from the castle the angel had brought him into. There was two angels waiting for him as he walked forward. They stood up very slowly and looked at him. The first one on Dark's left had black wings, dark clothes and red eyes. The other one was the same angel that he had met earlier and his coloration was much lighter compared to the other angel he was with. The lighter angel had quite colorful but yet greenish wings. His clothes were similarly light even though the darkness of the evening was darkening the colors quite a much. The dark Hylian himself had the wings the lighter angel had fixed for him. He nodded to the duo and they started to follow him. The trio walked to the door of Ganon's Castle.

_No remorse 'cause I still remember  
>The smile when you tore me apart<br>_

The three angels walked into the castle but when they entered the only room there was, a flash of flames burst out of nowhere in middle of the area and a demon rose up from its hiding. The demon had leather wings on his back and horns on his head. It was much taller than the angels even with the second dark angel being taller than Dark and the light angel. Before any of the trio had a chance to react, the demon had already shot towards them and crashed with Dark. As suddenly as the attack had come the duo was already in the air and the demon broke the dark Hylian's wing while smiling sadistically.

As this happened, there was flash of pictures at the back of the wall. Most were too blurred and over way too quickly to realize what had happened in them. But one flash came forth very clearly. In it Dark was screaming as a sword slashed at him and got him to crash harshly into the cold rock floor.

_You took my heart,  
>Deceived me right from the start<br>You showed me dreams,  
>I wished they'd turn into real<br>_

The demon let him fall with only one wing working but not being enough to slow his fall. Dark closed his eyes as he waited for the impact. The whole scene was done in slow motion thanks to the Shadows. As he fell, there came new scenes into the wall. This time they were much clearer and showed how Dark tried over and over again to escape from the castle. Freedom was something that had been promised to him so many times.

_You broke the promise  
>And made me realize<br>It was all just a lie  
><em>

Dark crashed to the floor quite harshly. The two angels he had with him were fighting with the monsters the demon had called out to keep them occupied as the demon itself tore their brother apart. As the dark Hylian laid in the floor the situations in the wall changed. In most of them the dark Hylian was locked up into a small room. Few showed how he was left among monsters that certainly looked eager to get their hands on him.

_Sparkling angel,  
>I couldn't see<br>Your dark intentions,  
>Your feelings for me<br>_

The two angels finally came to his side. The lighter one raised him off of the floor as carefully as possible. The darker one looked worried but also fully enraged. As the lighter one pulled Dark to his lap, the darker one stood up and turned towards the demon. The dark angel pulled out a sword and shot into the air to face the demon while screaming in rage.

_Fallen angel,  
>Tell me why<br>What is the reason,  
>The thorn in your eye?<br>_

The dark angel and the demon locked into a fierce fight. The demon pulled out a sword out of nowhere and the weapons clashed together. As the two fought in midair, the wall showed new parts. They weren't as clear as before but it was still easy to realize that it was flashes of Link fighting against different kind of monsters, mainly the bosses of different Temples. Few of the flashes showed some of the Sages too.

_I see the angels  
>I'll lead them to your door<br>There's no escape now  
>No mercy no more<br>_

Slowly there came more of angels into the room. They had resemblances towards the people Dark knew. Haru was in there as well as couple of Princesses he had learned to know. Carefully, with the light angel's and one female angel's help, Dark stood up to watch the still going fight. The female next to him had wings that were mix of blue and green. She also had a crown that had two markings on it, the Triforce and a dragonfly.

_No remorse 'cause I still remember  
>The smile when you tore me apart<br>_

Suddenly the demon struck hard against the dark angel. The hit got the angel start to fall downwards back first. Dark shot forward without caring of the fact that he couldn't fly. The lighter angel flew past him very swiftly to catch the falling angel. The dark Hylian returned back to the floor to wait for the two other angels to come down. As the duo lowered down to the floor, Dark ran straight to them in full worry.

The scenes in the wall changed once again. This time it only showed one thing in there. And that was the time when Ganondorf killed the young Dragmog the dark Hylian had found.

_You took my heart,  
>Deceived me right from the start<br>You showed me dreams,  
>I wished they'd turn into real<br>You broke the promise  
>And made me realize<br>It was all just a lie  
><em>

Dark screamed in pure anger and shot to his wings. He ignored the agonizing pain in his broken wing as he flew to face the demon. The dark Hylian was crying and he didn't listen at all to the shouts for him to return back. He was fully blinded by the rage and hurt as he attacked against the demon with the full knowledge of not being able to win this fight.

The blurred scenes turned into flashes of pictures. A fight with monsters. Dark locked up in extremely small room. The dark Hylian being locked into the Water Temple. Accepting the fact that there was no way out of what he was living through.

_Could have been forever  
>Now we have reached the end<br>_

Dark fought as fiercely as he could. He took very foolish and few even deadly risks as he tried to bring the demon down. Eventually the enemy got a grip of him and ripped the broken wing fully off of him. As that happened, the two other angels shot to their wings and attacked. As the duo fought together against the demon, couple of angels came to catch the dark Hylian.

The pictures turned into ongoing scene. It was the fight between Link and Ganondorf. It was surprisingly accurate even though it was done out of memory of what the Hero had told to Dark long ago.

_This world may have failed you  
>It doesn't give you a reason why<br>You could have chosen  
>A different path in life<br>_

The two female angels carefully landed to the floor and helped Dark to sit down. He was bleeding quite heavily from the wound. Other one of the angels carefully placed her hand over the wound and started to heal it. It wouldn't bring the wing back but it would stop the bleeding and shut the gash.

The scene in the wall changed again. This time it showed two different scenes. One on the left showed what kind of hell Ganondorf had put Hyrule in. In the right side's scene was what _could've_ been if Ganondorf hadn't taken the leadership by force and lies, or at least he could've ruled differently. The scenes were a thorough opposites to each other.

_The smile when you tore me apart_

The demon broke through the attacks and dived down. The enemy struck the two females off of the way before already taking Dark up from the floor. The two female angels shrieked but luckily weren't hurt as they crashed to the floor and stared horrified how the demon took the dark Hylian into the air. Once back in the air the demon ripped off the remaining wing from the dark Hylian. Right after that it let him fall. The two angels that had been fighting with the demon dived after Dark and caught him before he would've crashed to the floor.

The two scenes at the wall became one again and changed. It showed very swift flashes of both Ganondorf and the monsters striking the dark Hylian down. The scenes changed so quickly that it was hard to know if one had even seen a thing.

_You took my heart,  
>Deceived me right from the start<br>You showed me dreams,  
>I wished they'd turn into real<br>You broke the promise  
>And made me realize<br>It was all just a lie_

The two angels carefully lowered down to the floor. Dark refused to be laid down and instead he stood there while taking help from both of the angels next to him. It was clear that the duo was more than worried for his sake. The demon was smirking as it hovered in the air while waiting for the next attack.

Dark closed his eyes and the scenes in the wall turned into quick flashes. Each of them were showing times when Ganondorf deceived him and lied to him over and over again. All the given promises never came into reality.

_Could have been forever  
>Now we have reached the end<em>

The dark Hylian nodded and the two angels raised him into the air. Dark closed his eyes and slowly the two angels merged into him. Once he opened his eyes he had wings in back but they weren't his own. The left wing was bit bigger than the right one and it was black like his own wings had been. The right wing was greenish with slight mix of other colors. The demon was even more shocked when the dark Hylian pulled out two swords instead of one. After that he attacked and performed attacks that the two other angels knew. The fight was over much faster than could've believed.

Once the demon had crashed to the floor with two swords through its chest and vanished, Dark slowly lowered himself down to the floor. The two angels came back out which caused the dark Hylian to crash to all four on the floor. The angels gasped in slight shock and crouched down next to him. Carefully the duo helped him back to his feet.

Dark smiled as he closed his eyes and let the angels keep him upright. _"I'm not alone. I got family and friends."_ He thought, opened his eyes and grinned a bit in near smirk. _"But you were always alone. That's why you fell. Monsters aren't reliable... But family is."_

As he closed his eyes again, the illusion started to vanish and Dark crashed to his knees. He wasn't hurt at all but he was panting a bit while smiling. _"I got my revenge... Through the only way I _can_ get it..."_ The dark Hylian thought and chuckled a bit. The Shadows came in front of him and nodded once before they already left. Dark just simply nodded back. _"And didn't even need to pay to them."_ He thought with a slight grin.

Once he had calmed down long enough, the dark Hylian stood up and went to put the CD-player off. After that he checked the room before starting to leave it. At the door he gave one last look at the room, let the fires die, closed the door and left to return the odd device he had borrowed without having asked for the rights. _"I just hope I won't get into trouble over this..."_

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	9. Easter at Hyrule (2014)

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary: **Easter has come into Hyrule and it's the first one for the dark Hylian. Link got few plans for the time and he efficiently ropes Dark into it too. Yet, the dark Hylian realizes very quickly how much the celebrated time can be.

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**Situations from their lives  
><span>**

CHAPTER 9: Easter at Hyrule (2014)

"Link?" Dark called as he came into their room. The dark Hylian had slightly confused frown on his face as he walked to the bed and sat down. Link hummed and turned his gaze from the ceiling into his brother. "What's Easter?" Dark inquired while slightly tipping his head to side.

"Easter?" The Hero asked and sat up. His slightly confused look turned into a smile. "What do you know about it so far?" Link queried while watching the darker Hylian.

Dark dropped his gaze into the bed and shrugged. "Not much. There's lot of decoration by the color of yellow. Lots of bunnies and little chickens. And eggs." He replied but frowned even more. "And not just any eggs but, um... Colored ones." The dark Hylian raised his gaze to the Hero. "Is there a difference between the colored ones and normal ones? I mean that... I just..." He trailed off while trying to figure things out.

Link chuckled and crawled over to his closest friend and hugged him. "Easter is a time when kids can color eggs, eat lots of candies and chocolate. It's about searching for those colored eggs which usually are made of chocolate. Some of them actually does have a slight surprise inside. Some of kids even dress up like at Halloween but not as freaky going. Um... Actually, Easter is pretty much like Halloween minus the scary stuff." He explained carefully. "Also, while Halloween is only for one day and night, Easter is for about a week or so." The Hero continued.

Dark stayed quiet for a long while as he went through all of the information. Once he had made his conclusions, he slumped and sighed. "So, it's just for kids, huh?" The dark Hylian asked bit defeated.

Link chuckled and shook his head. "No. It's for everyone. It's just that kids don't have as much of fear of showing things off than what adults do. Anyways, since we got into this topic, I have had something in my mind for a while now." He answered and started to grin. "Come on! Follow me!" The Hero half shouted while already getting off of the bed and dragging Dark along.

The duo went through the castle and straight into the kitchen. It was oddly free of people but that was all the better for the Hero's thought. "Take a seat. I'll be right back!" Link stated, winked once and left through the backdoor. Dark sighed and slumped down to the closest table.

Soon the Hero came back with a basket full of white eggs, few different sized paintbrushes and lots of different paints. "Let's have some fun!" Link said eagerly as he put the things to the table. The dark Hylian watched fully confused as the Hero opened the paints, took the eggs carefully out of the basket and got everything ready. "Pick an egg, brush and paint and start to decorate it. Have fun and do whatever comes into your mind!" Link explained very swiftly before already rolling up his sleeves and taking the first egg up.

Dark was still fully surprised so he just watched what the Hero was doing. The white egg got waves of green, squared of blue, two yellow bit of childish looking little chickens, one red bunny, top of the egg was a violet star while the other end got orange dots. Link checked his work with a small smile. "Probably not what you'd have in mind but good enough." He stated with a slight grin before using very small amount of heat of Din's Fire to dry the colors and put the egg into the basket after that. "So, come on! There's lot of eggs. I can't do them all!" The Hero coaxed happily.

The dark Hylian was still bit reluctant but he finally took up an egg and a paintbrush. He bit slightly to his lower lip as he dipped the paintbrush to the first color and started to work with the egg. "Darky..." Link called as Dark was taking lot of notion and time with doing Triforce into there. The dark Hylian raised his gaze up. "It's supposed to be fun, quick and just to do whatever comes into mind. No offence, but you're not supposed to be doing masterpieces of them." The Hero explained and gave a nervous smile. "Um... These are chocolate eggs which means that, um... They're gonna break the egg." He said bit sorrowfully.

Dark stared wide-eyed at Link for a while before dropping his gaze back into the egg in his hand. "I..." He whispered before sighing and slumping. "But, why to color them then?" The dark Hylian inquired fully confused.

"For fun. For showing off." The Hero answered and shrugged before grinning. "Besides, it's more fun to search for nicely colored eggs than fully white ones, don't ya think?" Link stated bit mischievously. Dark frowned as the thought the words through but he eventually nodded slowly as he understood what the Hero was meaning.

"What kind of things is connected with Easter?" The dark Hylian inquired while raising his gaze back into Link. The Hero frowned a bit as he thought the question through.

"Hmm... That's a good one. Let's see... Like you said, bunnies and chickens. Black cats and witches. The yellow color." Link said and shrugged. "That's pretty much the main things."

Dark nodded and turned his gaze back into the egg. He stared at it before he let the paintbrush just slightly grace the white egg. It left a yellow dot into there. The dark Hylian frowned a bit and repeated his work. _"Well... Why not... Just this time..."_ He thought as his frown cleared off and he slightly smiled while letting the brush touch the egg several more times and leaving yellow dots here and there. After that Dark changed color and just repeated his earlier work. Green Triforce and green dots. Third brought blue Triforce and blue dots. "You think this is good?" He finally asked while giving the egg to Link.

The Hero checked the egg and nodded with a smile. "I think it's perfect." He replied happily while putting the egg into the basket where about three eggs were already. "Just keep doing and have fun. Don't think. Just go for the first thing that comes to mind while thinking about Easter. Okay?" Link advised as Dark picked up second white egg.

The dark Hylian nodded and this time just started to color the egg. For once he didn't care of mistakes or what he was doing. He just went for whatever came into his mind. Dark didn't even cringe as he created a small yellow chicken that didn't have the eyes and the legs were yellow instead of orange. Same kind of thing went with a black cat.

Link was fully happy as he saw how much the dark Hylian was starting enjoy their little egg painting session. The more fun Dark was having, the more of eggs he was able to do. And he didn't ask from the Hero whether or not the egg was good enough. Instead he just checked it once around, dried the paints and put it among other Easter eggs.

About an hour later from the time they started, the last egg was colored. "W-was that the last one?" Dark inquired bit startled as he looked around in case there would've been one more. Link chuckled and gave bit of an apolitical smile.

"Looks like that. But, we're up for different thing now." The Hero replied as he started to gather the paintbrushes to get them cleaned. "Can you put the lids into the paints?" He inquired and glanced at the dark Hylian. Dark simply nodded and started to help with the cleaning of the room.

Once all was cleaned, Link fetched another basket with eggs but these ones were already colored. It bit disappointed the dark Hylian but he very soon found out the reason why they were already done. "The kids from all around Hyrule came over couple of days ago and colored these. They're going to come back tomorrow and by that time these eggs gotta be hidden." The Hero explained as they started to leave the kitchen. "Tomorrow whole castle, minus our and Zelda's rooms, are fully open for them. They have two parts to search for these. Inside the castle and outside from the country yards. These two baskets are the last patch to hide anymore." Link continued as he gave the basket they had done to Dark.

The Hero grinned and nodded. "Get going. Hide those as well as you can. Inside or outside, which ever you prefer. Once you're ready, we'll see at here. Got it?" He stated calmly.

Dark blinked and looked at the colorful eggs. "I... I can hide these? Wherever I want to?" He inquired bit surprised. Link just simply nodded and the dark Hylian slowly started to smile. "AWESOME! This'll be so much of fun!" He nearly shouted before he already grinned widely. "See you soon, Link!" The dark Hylian called before he already dashed off.

The Hero smiled widely and watched him leave. _"Have fun, Dark. I still got few ideas for ya..."_ He thought happily before leaving to hide the last basket of Easter eggs.

It took few hours before the duo met up again. Dark was actually already waiting for Link with a wide smile on his face. "Anything else for Easter?" He inquired straight off when the Hero came back with the empty basket. Link chuckled and nodded.

"You're eager with this. But, that's only good. And yeah, I still got few good ideas if you're willing." He replied and sat down opposite the dark Hylian. Dark nodded eagerly and waited for Link to continue. "The castle needs bit of decoration for the Easter. I got lots of paper and carbon but we need to cut small things out of them before planting them all around the castle. You willing for this?" He explained before already going to get the needed things and planted them down to the table. "You in?" The Hero inquired.

Dark blinked few times before grinning widely. "Oh yeah! I'm in!" He replied eagerly, took the first yellow colored paper and scissors before already starting to cut a small chicken out of it. Link watched for a while as the dark Hylian worked the small animal out of the paper without any of problem or backup. After that he took up a pen and drew eyes and wings for the yellow chicken. "This what you meant, right?" Dark inquired carefully.

The Hero nodded while smiling. "Fully." He replied before starting to work too. The darker Hylian's smile widened if any possibilities and he took up a new paper. After doing a light brown rabbit, he started to frown a bit.

"Link..." Dark called bit hesitantly. Link raised his gaze up with a slight worried frown and nodded that he's listening. "Is there any of chances that I could, um... Decorate these too?" The dark Hylian inquired and glanced at the yellow chicken and light brown bunny he had done so far.

The Hero chuckled and nodded. "Of course you can. The more colorful they are, the better. You can do whatever you want for them." He replied smiling which only widened as Dark's expression brightened and worked up few colorful decorations for his works. The bunny got a red ribbon and an Easter egg into its paws. The yellow chicken got different colored dots all around it.

They continued like that. After having used all there was of the papers, the duo left to decorate the castle. Yellow small chickens, few different colored bunnies, couple of black cats and few witches were soon all around the castle. Dark was fully having fun while making the castle fully ready for the Easter.

All this had taken the whole day but the dark Hylian just barely got to sleep since he was fully eager of the next day. They, along with lots of guards and knights, were going to look after the kids when they'd come. The next day started off early and only couple of hours after the duo had woken up, the children came over.

The day went fully while looking after the kids so that they wouldn't get themselves harmed nor causing trouble for others. Dark helped several of the younger children as they had bit of trouble in finding the hidden eggs. It wasn't much of other than few simple riddles. Those didn't need much of thinking since the dark Hylian had put some of the decorations pretty much right over the place where a colored egg was hidden into. He especially helped those who hadn't found even one egg. Dark was _not_ going to let any of the kids leave without having found at least _one_ egg from the hundreds if not thousands of colored eggs that were hidden into the castle and its surroundings.

"You're being bit too nice with them, you know." Link told him once when no-one else was around but his smile was fully going against his accusation.

Dark just simply shrugged. "I think I'm only being fair." He replied with a slight grin.

The Hero chuckled and nodded. "Better that way." Link answered while being fully grateful that his brother was looking after the kids so willingly and helping them as well as he could without plain out stating the hiding places out to the children.

The day went fully while watching after the children. The next day started off late since both Link and Dark slept long simply because there wasn't anything that they _had_ to do. Yet, the Hero was awake before the dark Hylian which was good for Link's own little plan.

Once Dark finally started to wake up, the first thing he found was a very colorful egg not too far from his face. He blinked few times and frowned while getting up. "It's for you, bro." The Hero stated happily while sitting on the bed and just watching the darker Hylian.

Dark frowned but took the Easter egg up tentatively. "It's... It's not normal egg, is it?" He inquired fully confused as he felt the paper instead of the smooth shell of the egg.

Link nodded his confirmation. "Open it." He replied while smiling a bit. The darker Hylian still frowned as he carefully and bit slowly took the paper off of the egg.

"Chocolate?" He inquired fully puzzled. "But... It's not full chocolate, is it?" Dark continued while not knowing what he was supposed to feel or do.

The Hero chuckled and grinned a bit. "Crack it open, Darky." He said as an answer.

"Huh?" Dark replied even more confused.

Link sighed a bit but he was still smiling. "Shake it." He nearly commanded. The darker Hylian slumped a bit but did as he was told... Only to hear the slight sound of something hitting into the walls of the chocolate egg.

"What the...?!" He half shouted in shock and stared wide-eyed at the egg in his hands. The Hero was grinning again.

"Like I said, open it." Link stated. "Don't worry at all. Just get it opened whatever way you want to do it." He continued calmly.

Dark looked at the Hero with fully puzzled look at his face but stayed silent as he tried to figure out a way to get the chocolate egg opened. Eventually he carefully licked at the chocolate, mainly to make sure it really _was_ chocolate. Once he had confirmed that, he gave a very small and tentative bite to the peak of the egg. That gave a slight chance to take a peek into the inside of the chocolate egg. Unfortunately, though, it was still too small for whatever the egg contained to come out yet.

Link watched as Dark started to eat the egg and create the hole bigger. Eventually he got the small thing out but frowned again as the thing seemed to have some kind of paper around it. "Open it." The Hero stated again and nodded to him. The dark Hylian was bit uncertain but he started to unwrap the papers around the small thing. "What is it?" Link inquired carefully while trying to get a notion of what Dark got.

The dark Hylian gasped a bit as he finally got the small thing out of hiding. It was a small Wolfos toy. Sure, it had some small mistakes but the toy was that of small that the mistakes could be forgiven. Dark smiled as he showed the toy to Link. "Wolfos. Looks quite nice too." He said happily.

"I agree with that fully." The Hero replied before hugging the dark Hylian. "Happy Easter, bro." He whispered with a wide smile.

Dark answered to the hold very swiftly. "Likewise, Link. Thanks." He answered while fully knowing that Easter was something he was going to like from year to year.

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	10. Sneak peak to far off being story

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary: **A sneak peak at a story that's FAR in the future. I changed it a bit so I wouldn't reveal the kids names but they got full connection to Link and Dark. ^^; And, um...

FORGIVME ME FOR BEING SO FREAKING LATE! D= I had TOTALLY forgotten that it's Monday and I should update a story! T.T So, in lack of better stuff, I give a short sneak peak. This is only from the start of the first chapter of the story. So, it will be reposted with longer ending and more chapters once I get that far that this actually comes forth.

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Enjoy the sneak peak! ^.^

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**Situations from their lives  
><span>**

CHAPTER 10: Sneak peak into far away being story

Dark was lying on a bed at the Infirmary. There was a young child next to the bed and watching worriedly how the dark Hylian was still unconscious. It had been several days since the Hero of Time and the princess of Hyrule brought him home. The three of them had been handling some problems at very north of Hyrule.

They had ended up into a harsh fight against monsters. Things had gone well until several Darknuts and Chilfos' were brought into the fight. Luckily they had managed to get rid of the huge ice warriors quite quickly but the Darknuts were harder to defeat. There were nine of them which meant three for each. Link knew from experience that fighting one was easy, two was hard and three was nearly impossible. The only way to defeat them was to take them down one at a time which wasn't any of easy feature to do.

As the fight went on things started to work out. It still was dangerous and risky but the three of them knew teamwork better than anyone else. But the luck ended when one of the Darknuts got a strike at the Hero. Link was hit into middle of the remaining Darknuts that started to slash at him straight off.

Until that situation Dark had been very lucky and gotten only few scratches during the fight. Now, he dove right after the Hero to shield him from the strikes. Zelda nearly screamed when she realized the situation. The princess attacked against the separated Darknut to keep it off of the fight.

The dark Hylian shielded Link with his own body as well as with his sword and shield. The attacks were strong and cut deep into his flesh. The Hero tried to help but realized very soon that he had to get off of the way and get a strike at the remaining enemies. Link found an opening and left from middle of the ring. Right after that he drew out his sword and started to run while striking at each of the Darknuts' backs. They screamed out and stopped the attack for a short while.

Dark realized the chance and dove out of the danger. Link came to him and half dragged him further off from the Darknuts. The dark Hylian stood back up bit shakily which worried the Hero but he knew that if someone could take such a beating and still continue the fight, that would be the Half-Shadow. Link nodded to Dark and left to attack against the separated enemy that was fighting with Zelda. Dark kept eye on the remaining enemies while catching his breath and strength before already rushing for their help.

Getting the Darknuts separated started to get harder the lesser there was of them. The monsters stayed together but once in a while one rushed for an attack and eventually it was alone against three. Dark took up the work of being a decoy and stayed on the defense. It was tiresome and hard but the dark Hylian didn't back off since he knew that doing such work he gave perfect chance for Link and Zelda to attack against the creature's back.

Eventually there was only one left but before they got a strike at it, the black warrior already dropped its armor and threw the heavy sword towards the attackers. Right after that it left for an attack with very fast speed. It was lot harder and more dangerous than the earlier Darknuts. Those had dropped their armor the more hits they got until it was tired from the fight and went for the last result, the speed.

The attacks the Darknut unleashed were powerful and the speed of them was hard to match. Dark tried to stay as decoy again but after few strong attacks, the remaining Darknut broke through the dark Hylian's shield. The next strike got him to fly straight against the wall. The warrior rushed forward in attempt of finishing one of the fighters off.

Dark forced himself to all four while trying to regain his strength to continue the fight. "_DARK!_" Link screamed out and ran towards the darker Hylian. He came between the wounded Hylian and the enemy but the Darknut slammed straight into the Hero and half crushed him against the wall. Link cried out in pain while nearly slumping right over the darker Hylian. The Darknut struck few fast moves and discarded the Hero's weapons.

The warrior chuckled darkly before already unleashing the next attack. Link closed his eyes in fear while Dark's eyes widened in horror. The half-shadow moved very quickly and with powerful and fast move he moved the Hero to the floor while taking his place. He drew out his sword as quickly as he could and struck it forward towards the Darknut. The swords hit into their targets.

Dark gasped in pain when the sword went straight through his chest. The Darknut was bit startled when the darker version of Master Sword went straight through the warrior's heart. The monster let go of the sword and backed off few steps before it crashed to the ground and very soon vanished. Dark grit his teeth when the sword moved to bit different position after its hilt fell to the ground. When the enemy vanished, the sword disappeared too. Since the sword wasn't holding him upwards anymore, the half-shadow fell to the ground in pain. Before Link had a chance to do anything, the dark Hylian had already fallen unconscious.

Zelda, who had been further off and trying to get a hit at the enemy by bow and arrows, rushed to the duo as fast she could. Once she got to them, the Hero was already doing what he could for the wounds. The princess kneeled down and started her healing magic. The wounds were harsh but they managed to heal the worst ones. After that started the long and hard trek back to the castle.

That fight had been nearly a week ago. Suddenly the door to the room creaked a little and another young child came in. "How is he?" He questioned carefully. The other boy sighed and shook his head.

"No change." He replied quietly with bit shaky voice. The new kid walked closer to the bed and leaned against the chair the other boy was at. "I hate this, you know. He always has to do those stunts." The sitting boy whispered before already breaking down.

"I'm sure he'll be okay. He always pulls through." The other boy reassured but his voice was equally sad. "Hey, I know this is hard but—" He started with stronger voice but the other boy stopped him very quickly.

"_Don't!_ I don't want to hear it! It's been going on throughout my whole life! And I hate it! I hate it so much that you can't even know it!" The boy screamed in tears and jumped off of the chair. He turned around furiously and nearly glared at his friend. The other boy took few steps backwards in shock. "Please... Leave me alone for a while..." The first boy whispered quietly, slumped and sat back to the chair. The boy's friend only nodded and slowly left the room.

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

Also, flames are accepted but those shall be for Axel's entertainment or for Demyx's practice! =P

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	11. Three Darknuts

A/N: I have forgotten to say this earlier: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_. I'm sorry that I forgot to inform this important piece of information. T.T

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary: **Link and Dark are handling a mission. The dark Hylian has been left bit behind to handle another task while the Hero has moved forward. Unfortunately Link crashes up with three Darknuts. The fight is on and it doesn't look too good for the Hero...

**Christmas Calendar:** As at last year, the calendar will be only in DeviantArt. I can be found from there by same name as in here. It will be one Journal whcih I will update on daily basis. And the first is already at next Monday. If you don't want to comment in dA, you can do it in here or through e-mail. =)

-.-.-.-.-.-

Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**SITUATIONS FROM THEIR LIVES  
><span>**

CHAPTER 11: Three Darknuts

Link was surrounded by three Darknuts in middle of a forest. He had been fighting for couple of hours already and the monsters had got several strikes in. The Hero was bleeding quite badly, especially from the wound on his side. The three armored warriors were whole time too close to each other for the Hylian to get much of chances to fight them separately.

As Link was backing off he realized one simple thing. He was in middle of a _forest_. He had known it whole time but for some reason it hadn't really registered in his mind. Though, three extremely harsh fighters _did_ bring bit of something else to think than the area he was in. When the Hero finally took in on that little information along with that itty bitty fact of him having grown up in a forest, the area gave him what he needed for the victory.

Link grinned a bit and started to back off. The three Darknuts were still quite slow in their heavy armors which gave the Hero the needed distance. The monsters stayed close to each other but they didn't attack as swiftly nor did they move quick enough for them to catch up with the agile Hylian. Suddenly he dashed towards the trio.

The Darknuts readied their attacks but Link avoided them by diving over one of the swords and doing a quick somersault to get to his feet. After that he continued forward until he reached the first tree. The Hero jumped against it before bouncing towards the next tree and from there back to the first one's branch. He ran from branch to branch while rounding the tree and jumping to the next one.

If anything, this Hylian knew forests like the back of his hand. He could easily find the strong enough branch to hold his weight. He could tell the age of a tree by a swift glance. He'd easily know one tree from another by just touching its bark. He could walk through a forest blinded without crashing into any of the trees in there. Forests were his home and safety.

Link moved from one tree to another until he got next to the group of three. After that he jumped between the trio, somersaulted behind one and jumped up while slashing at the vulnerable back of the enemy. Right after landing to his feet, he already ran to the next tree and back up. He moved forward, searched the right place and attacked again. This time the Hero landed to one Darknut's shoulders, jumped over the next one and slashed before dashing off again.

Link moved swiftly around the area and gave no time for the trio to catch him. He had had his fair share of fights which had taught him the way of using a sword efficiently along with tricks. Sure, he couldn't do what Dark did. He couldn't stand on one's sword but he could make a slight use of a wide enough blade. This meant about stepping on it and use it as a way upwards and behind the enemy.

The Hero kept changing his target each time he went into the trees and attacked from there. On this way he got about equal amount of attacks in each of the three. Eventually one of the three lost its full armor. As that happened, Link started to slash at it with all he got. He gave the monster no chance of leaving or blocking the strikes. The Hylian backed off only after the two others came too close. At then he retreated back into the tree.

Link was panting a bit. The blood-loss started to affect his way of fighting but he couldn't give up, not yet. He knew he was on the winning side but he needed to be fast. As the three Darknuts walked close to the tree, the Hero jumped down, somersaulted in midair and slashed hard into the back of the Darknut without any of armor. Right after that he turned around as swiftly as possible and started to whack at the monster with his sword. Just as he got the last strike in, the two other Darknuts came bit too close.

The Hero wasn't fast enough to block nor avoid the slash of the enormous sword. The hit left a wide wound into Link's chest and struck him far before he hit back first into the ground. It left him breathless and gasping for air. Link could easily hear the two Darknuts coming closer. The bad thing was that the Hylian had no potions or fairies with him to help him get the needed help and strength to continue the fight. He had to force himself back up to his feet.

Link staggered couple of steps backwards after getting up. He was bit slumped forward while gasping for air. The longer the fight would go, the more certain his death would be. The Hero grit his teeth and stood straight. Yet, at that moment other one of the two had already gotten close enough and struck with its sword.

The Hylian grit his teeth while bringing his sword in front of him to block the attack. The strength of the slash hit harshly into the Blade of Evil's Bane and got the Hero to fly backwards again. Yet, this time around Link managed to land to his hands and push himself back into the air and eventually land to his feet. He skidded a short distance backwards before already dashing towards the duo.

The Hero dived and somersaulted over one of the two swords before already scrambling to his feet. He managed to keep his speed and take couple of quick steps forward before jumping against the closest tree. Link bounced off and bit higher from the trunk of the tree while doing a backflip. He landed behind other one of the two remaining Darknuts. Right after that he started to slash with all he got again.

The other Darknut turned around as quickly as it could but by then the Hero had already managed to strike the other one's armor down and give several harsh strikes. The armorless monster wouldn't have needed much of hits anymore before it would've been killed but Link wasn't given that chance. The second one with the armor attacked at him again.

The Hylian was struck harshly back first into another tree. He crashed to the ground into a sitting position while still somehow managing to hold on to the sword. Suddenly he heard other one of the remaining monsters coming with a fast speed towards him. Link shot his eyes open and out of reflex managed to somersault out of the sword's way. Unfortunately for the Darknut, its weapon got fully stuck on the tree. The Hero scrambled to his feet and started to slash at the defenseless creature. Once the Darknut vanished, there was only one left to finish off.

Link turned towards the remaining enemy. He was panting and in pain but he couldn't give up. If nothing else, he had to finish the last Darknut before death would claim him. The Hero took once a deep breath while gritting his teeth at the pain. He couldn't let it bother. In all reality, he had long forgotten how many times he had done the same thing he was doing now. Just ignored the pain and tiredness and continued to fight until his own body would give up.

The black well armored warrior was slowly walking towards him. Link readied himself to the last part of the fight before already screaming as he dashed towards the monster. The Darknut was still slow in its movements which allowed the Hero the chance of going behind it. The Hylian slashed as hard as he could but on the second the last bit of the armor dropped off, the Darknut moved out of the way.

Link just barely managed to avoid the heavy blade which was thrown at him before the enemy already drew out another sword and attacked. The Hylian was luckily fast enough to bring his shield up for his protection but the attacks were strong and fast. Link was slowly forced to back off which certainly wasn't anything he liked of.

Eventually the Hero growled a bit and slammed the shield towards the blade of the Darknut. It got both of them to stumble a bit but it also gave Link the chance of getting to rethink his strategy. He backed off to get distance but just as he had done that, the warrior already came after him with quick speed. The Hylian dived out of the way before somersaulting to his feet. His learning of the deathly situations was only thing that gave him the chance to shield himself from the next attack.

Link was in trouble with the Darknut but he wasn't going to run off from there. Eventually he took once a deep breath and waited for the enemy to attack. That was when he ducked under the sword and slashed at the monster as he stood back up. The Darknut backed off very swiftly after that attack.

The Hero grinned a bit. His plan was deadly if his timing was wrong but it could work. Link ran to attack the warrior but instead of striking, he waited for the enemy to make the actual slash. That was when he made his best attempt of avoiding the sword while staying within reach of attacking. Luckily his plan was working but there was one simple problem... It was slow. The longer the fight went, the weaker and more desperate Link became.

Eventually the fight ended as the Hero crouched down to avoid the sword and shot up right after that. He struck his sword through the Darknut's chest before already striking it out and backing off. Link knew he couldn't stand his ground for much longer yet luckily the monster crashed to the ground and vanished. The Hylian sighed heavily and crashed to his knees. He was more than grateful for the fight to be over but he knew he had no strength left to go and get help somehow.

"_Link!_"

The Hylian crashed to his side while breathing heavily. He just barely heard someone call his name but thought it to be nothing more than his imagination and wind. He closed his eyes and let his breathing even out. There wasn't much of time left for him.

"_LINK!_"

The shout came from much closer now. The Hero forced his eyes open as he could swear that he heard someone running towards him. He sighed heavily while waiting for more monsters to come forth and finish him off. The Hylian closed his eyes again while hoping that the creatures would actually be swift and not torture him to death.

"LINK!"

The scream came way too closer for him to ignore it anymore. Not to mention he could actually recognize the voice. The shout was soon followed by something or some_one_ hitting the ground and skidding a short distance.

"LINK! Dear Goddesses, no..."

The Hero opened his eyes with a slight frown. "D-Dark?" He called weakly while blinking several times in hopes of clearing his eyesight. Link could feel and partly see the dark Hylian turn him to his back. He could hear and notice the other one talking but he couldn't make out the words. Suddenly he was carefully lifted into a sitting position while fully leaning against the darker Hylian. Very soon after that he felt something being pressed against his lips. The Hero didn't think twice before he already drank what was being offered. Out of the taste and scent he could recognize the potion. And considering his own condition, Link had a feeling it was either a red potion or then the blue one. Probably blue one since it worked for both healing and giving strength.

"Link? Can you hear me?" The inquiry was done in full worry since the Hero had closed his eyes again. Link just simply nodded but took the given chance to calm down and let the potion to work. "You should take the next potion too..." The suggestion was done bit hesitantly but the Hero simply nodded and let Dark feed him the second potion, a red one this time around.

Not long after the second potion Link finally sat up a bit and took slight distance to show he was alright now. He took once a deep breath before opening his eyes and looking at Dark with a smile. "Thanks." The Hero said before sighing bit heavily. "I never meant to leave you behind to handle the earlier task..." He mumbled ashamed while dropping his gaze into the ground.

Dark sighed in relief before already hugging Link. "It's alright. I'm just glad you're gonna be alright now." He told in much calmer voice. The Hero nodded while returning the embrace happily. "And I thought to be quicker with the task but..." The darker Hylian continued before sighing heavily and bit tightening his hold. "I'm sorry I took so long..." He mumbled sorrowfully.

Link chuckled slightly while tightening his own hold on Dark but smiling whole time. "It's fully alright, Dark. No worries. You came over just in time. And that's what you've always done so I'm not exactly worried." The Hero told calmly. "Thank you."

Dark sighed in relief and nodded. "Always." He replied while finally closing his eyes and calming down fully. The Hero was safe and sound. That was all that mattered to him.

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	12. Kokiri Fruit

A/N: I have forgotten to say this earlier: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_. I'm sorry that I forgot to inform this important piece of information. T.T

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

-.-.-.-.-.-

**Summary: **Link is having slight reminiscing at one late evening in the kitchen of the castle. Dark comes over when he realizes that Link's not in the bed. They have a short chat while sharing a calm moment.

**Christmas Calendar:** As at last year, the calendar will be only in DeviantArt. I can be found from there by same name as in here. It will be one Journal whcih I will update on daily basis. And the first is already out. If you don't want to comment in dA, you can do it in here or through e-mail. =)

-.-.-.-.-.-

Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**SITUATIONS FROM THEIR LIVES  
><span>**

CHAPTER 12: Kokiri Fruit  
><span>

Link was sitting in the very dimly lit kitchen of the castle of Hyrule. He had his right elbow on the table with his chin in his hand. In his left hand was a mug of hot chocolate. Yet, it wasn't any of normal kind. It was made out of hot water, strawberries and Kokiri Fruit. The Hero hadn't been able to sleep even though the earlier day had been busy and exhausting. His Shadow, though, was sleeping surprisingly calmly which was the reason he had left as silently as he could from their shared room.

The chocolaty fruit in his drink was something that brought memories for Link. It was from his home forest and it also was the first thing that had gotten him into liking chocolates. The specific drink he had was one of the special ones which Saria had done for him. Link sighed bit heavily while keeping his big sorrowful gaze in the floor.

The Kokiri Fruit wasn't known by its true name. Usually people referred to it as "Zora's Delight" or "Goron Rock". This was because both races sold the rare fruit. The fruit wasn't any of easy to get and it cost usually more than one could afford. And it only grew in the forest behind the Deku Tree.

The Kokiris had some trading with the Zoras and Gorons since all three races had a chance to meet in the Lost Woods. There was slight diving area where one could get into the Zora's River. And there was a well decorated cave which led into the Goron City. Sometimes all three met up in the woods for bigger trading but usually it was just between two races.

With Zoras Kokiris traded the fruit for sugar, salt and sometimes fish. Fish was rare case since there were couple of good places the children of Forest could get them. Yet, sugar and salt was something they could not get their hands on. That was the reason the trading with Zoras was so important. The way they handled things was by leaving a note at the shore of the water area. Zoras visited there regularly to check things. For the note they left their own one, a reply of what they wanted in return for the request. It wasn't too often that the young Kokiris would meet with the aquatic Zoras. That was why they used notes. And with fishes the Kokiris left a wooden cage into the water. The size of the holes in there indicated for the size of the fish. Big holes for big fish, small holes for smaller fishes. It fully depended on what sized fish could _not_ get away through the holes.

With Gorons the children of Forest had different approach. Since they could not leave the forest and there for the woods, they could not enter the Goron City. That was the reason they threw rocks into the wall of the cave. It usually didn't take long until one or few of the Gorons came over to check what was going on. Though, in these days they already knew that it was the Kokiris who were calling for them instead of possible monsters or such.

Unlike with Zoras, the Gorons had much more to use in the exchange. They had the chance of using the shiny rocks they found as well as the few handcrafts they created. Yet, the biggest value was on the things they could bring from the Kakariko Village or even from the Market. After all, the village itself was right below the Death Mountain where the Gorons lived at.

Link remembered well the first times he was along in the trading parts. Yet, he never met with the Zoras since he was not allowed to stay in the woods during nights. And by the morning the aquatic race had already visited there. The Gorons were different thing, though. It had been bit scary for him to meet the rock people. Yet, there never was any of introductions so no names were learned or given.

Even though the Kokiri Fruit was the most wanted, it was rarely used for trading. It wasn't only valuable for everyone else in Hyrule but also for the Kokiris themselves. It was like candy and it was used in every fruit and berry foods and drinks. The Kokiri Fruit was bit of like sacred thing.

Link sighed again and traced the brim of the mug. He had a small Kokiri Fruit Tree at his and Dark's shared room. It wasn't older than year and half but he knew he had to plant it out inside a year or it would grow to be too big into their room. The bad thing was that the tree didn't make harvest until it was at least three years old. Usually the better age was four to four and half years. At then it was quite a huge tree already. The Hero knew where he was going to plant it but at the same time he wasn't really eager of thinking about it. The tree gave slightly forest like scent from its leaves which reminded him of Kokiri. That was the reason he really wanted to keep the tree in his and Dark's shared room.

"Link?"

The Hero was quite startled about the quiet call of his name. He sat up straighter while turning to look at the door to see Dark. The darker Hylian looked bit uncertain while coming into the room and sitting down opposite Link. "Are you alright?" The Shadow inquired worriedly.

Link shrugged. "Yeah. Just reminiscing." He replied before getting up. Dark frowned a bit while feeling like he shouldn't have come. Yet, the Hero only changed to the other side of the table and sat down right next to the darker Hylian. The Shadow was bit startled but he didn't say anything nor did he move away either.

"Reminiscing about what?" Dark inquired with slight frown. Link grinned very slightly.

"The past." The Hero replied. The darker Hylian scowled slightly which only got Link to chuckle a bit. "Sorry. Bit too obvious answer, wasn't it?" He inquired before sighing again and carefully leaning against Dark while bit fearing to freak him out.

The darker Hylian was quite startled but he bit hesitantly gave one armed hug to Link. The Hero sighed again but somehow Dark could say it was more of relief and happiness than sorrow. "Why _are_ you up at this time of the night, Link?" Dark inquired as calmly as he could.

The Hero shrugged. "Why are _you_ up, Dark?" He countered while keeping his gaze in the table.

Dark shrugged and sighed a bit. "Woke up to find that you weren't there. Couldn't find you from the bathroom nor was there any of notes." He started before shrugging slightly. "I kinda got worried." The dark Hylian confessed before bit grinning. "Though, _I_ left you a note in case you came back before me. Now... Your turn."

Link nodded but shrugged soon. "Couldn't sleep." He told bit sorrowfully. Dark frowned and waited for a while but the Hero didn't continue.

"Anything I can do to help?" The dark Hylian inquired while feeling bit hopeful.

Link sighed and moved his empty mug in front of Dark. "Do me another one." He requested with slight grin. Dark was bit startled but nodded.

"You gotta tell me how, though." He told while bit reluctantly letting go of Link and getting up. The Hero nodded and finally turned his gaze into Dark.

"Hot water, strawberries and Kokiri Fruit. All mixed up into a smooth drink." Link explained very simply. Dark turned around with a frown at the last ingredient.

"Kokiri Fruit?" He inquired quite confused. The dark Hylian had _never_ heard that name before. "I assume it's growing only in Kokiri by the name of it." Dark continued bit worriedly.

Link nodded before shrugging. "Kokiri Fruit, Goron Rock, Zora's Delight. All means one and the same." He explained but noticed that the realization hit the darker Hylian by the second given name for the fruit. The Hero smiled slightly before dropping his gaze down again. "The fruit's my first introduction into the world of chocolates." He confessed quietly while knowing that Dark still heard him very easily.

Dark nodded at the information without really knowing how to reply. Yet, as he came back, he had _two_ mugs of hot chocolate along. "Thought to give it a shot since it sounds so good." The dark Hylian explained with a slight smile. Once he had sat down next to Link, he already hugged him again. "So, um... I take it you need more of the company than of talking, right?" Dark inquired bit uncertainly.

The Hero nodded while fully leaning on the darker Hylian. He turned a bit so his back was against Dark's side while having the darker Hylian's arm over his chest. "Something like that." Link replied quietly while pulling his legs up to the long bench they were sitting on.

They were silent for a long while. The Hero held the mug by both of his hands while Dark held it only in his left since his right arm was around Link. "Dark..." The Hero started calmly to get the darker Hylian's notion before already continuing: "Thank You."

The Shadow was quite startled but he smiled a bit at the words. "No problem. Though, um... For what?" He replied before already looking quite sheepish and uncertain.

Link chuckled a bit and smiled slightly. "For the drink as of starters..." He told with slight grin before sighing and letting the grin vanish. "But, honestly speaking... For everything." The Hero continued very soon.

Dark was even more surprised of the words. "Um... I-I think it should be _me_ thanking _you_." He half whispered while turning his gaze off. "You've done so much for me, Link. I don't know if I can ever truly repay you for all you've—" The dark Hylian started but couldn't go further as Link raised his fingers over Dark's mouth.

The Hero let his hand fall back down once the Shadow had stopped talking before already shaking his head. "No. The truth is that you've done more for me than I have done for you. And don't start to argue. I feel like this topic is something we could go on forever and I'm not up for that. The thing is that your company, acceptance, kindness and happiness have been something I've been missing. You're a true friend and amazing person. With you I can be fully at peace and show myself. You don't judge me nor wait for me to be the Hero whole time. Thank You, Dark. Thank you for accepting me for who I am." Link told surprisingly calmly with a small smile on his face.

Dark was silent for a long while as he was both speechless as well as blushing very brightly. He wanted to counter and tell what he felt but he didn't want to turn things into an argument or anything of such. Yet, soon he grinned slightly as he came up with one simple answer: "Likewise, Link. Likewise."

Link chuckled, nearly laughed, at the reply. He hadn't waited for the dark Hylian to find a way to answer but he was more than happy that he had. Dark smiled widely as he heard the Hero laugh a bit. It was all the reassuring he needed to know that Link was going to be okay.

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The Kokiri Fruit is same as a real fruit called Black Sapote. Never have tasted it but out of search in Internet it's said to taste like chocolate.

Also, I would LOVE to get a picture of the duo in the kitchen with Link leaning against Dark and Dark giving one armed hug to Link and both having the mug of hot chocolate-strawberry. ^.^

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	13. Bying a bookshelf

A/N: I have forgotten to say this earlier: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_. I'm sorry that I forgot to inform this important piece of information. T.T

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary: **Dark has bit too much of books already so Link decides to take him to buy a bookshelf. Will they find one?

**Christmas Calendar:** As at last year, the calendar will be only in DeviantArt. I can be found from there by same name as in here. It will be one Journal whcih I will update on daily basis. And the first is already out. If you don't want to comment in dA, you can do it in here or through e-mail. =)

I know I'm bit late, sorry! Buut... HAPPY 97th INDEPENDENCE DAY OF FINLAND! ^.^

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**SITUATIONS FROM THEIR LIVES  
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CHAPTER 13: Bying a bookshelf  
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Dark had already gained that of much of books that he and Link were running out of room for them. The darker Hylian looked quite sheepish since he knew to have been buying books whenever he could and especially if he found something that really got his interest. Not to mention about all of those books he had borrowed from the library. Though, he was _very_ precise with them and returned them fully in time as well as keeping excellent care of the books.

Link sighed while sitting down to the bed after having rounded couple of bigger stacks of books. "We need a bookshelf for you." He half mumbled while looking at the different sized mountains of books. The Shadow frowned a bit and marked his place in his current book before putting it down.

"A bookshelf? That wooden thing with planks where you can place stuff?" He inquired before grinning. "I was waiting when you'd say we'll get one of those!" Dark nearly shouted and sat up while looking thoroughly eager.

Link chuckled and shook his head. He had known for certain to get the darker Hylian thoroughly excited about the idea. "Yep. That's exactly what we'll be going to buy." The Hero confirmed and stood up. "Come on then. Let's go and find the perfect one for us." He told and nodded towards the door. Dark nearly squealed and almost bounced up and down on the bed like a absolutely excited five-year-old kid before dashing after Link.

"Where do we buy it? How much will it cost? What color will it be? How many planks will it have? How tall will it be? Is all of the books going to fit in it?" Dark inquired nearly in one breath while following the Hero. Link chuckled at the flood of questions.

"Calm down, Dark. I'll take you to the place where we'll buy it. I don't yet know how much it'll be. Nor do I know of its color or the amount of shelves. It shouldn't be too tall so you'd be able to get the books from the highest shelf too. And yes, all of the books will get fit in there." The Hero answered as calmly as he could.

Link led Dark into the Market where the shops where. There were several places where bookshelves were sold but the Hero walked straight into one specific place. He had used the same shop several times before and he knew the people who worked there as well as the owner. Not to mention he knew where the wood was coming from as well as whom did the work for all of the things sold in the shop.

Dark looked around in full awe. It was the first time he was in such shop. He nearly lost Link from his sight but he very swiftly took slow run to catch up with him again. "Big place, isn't it?" Link inquired and chuckled a bit when the darker Hylian just simply nodded. The Hero gently took a hold of Dark's arm and led him further. "The bookshelves are here." He told while leading him through few other sections of the huge place.

"S-should we check the prices of other places too? O-or at least the outlooks of the shelves?" Dark inquired bit quietly. He felt like he could get lost in the shop forever which was the reason he held on to Link quite tightly.

The Hero shook his head. "No need. If you want the best, this is your place." He told calmly and glanced at the Shadow. "Unless, of course, you don't find a bookshelf you like. That's when we check from others too." Link continued swiftly. He wanted for Dark to choose the bookshelf and be happy with the choice. After all, it _was_ Dark who actually needed it.

Dark nodded and blinked a bit once they reached the right section. He hadn't waited for so many and different looking bookshelves to be in sale. "A-are all of this...?" The dark Hylian inquired bit quietly.

"Yep. Though, those are only for show. The actual thing will be in a box and we gotta put it together on our own." Link answered with a nod. "These are just for the customers to know what the bookshelf will look like, what's the size and so on." He explained and let Dark take the lead. The Hero stayed bit further off while the darker Hylian went to check the bookshelves.

Dark stayed quite far off from the bookshelves at first. He wanted to get to see what kind of models were in sale. The dark Hylian was fully silent while bit frowning and looking at each of the ten different bookshelf. He glanced at Link whom just simply nodded before going closer. Yet, one of the bookshelves had already piqued his interest. Nonetheless, he wanted to have a full checkup on all of the choices before making up his mind.

Dark walked slowly from one bookshelf to another. He took his time with each of them to take in on their outlook. Once he had checked all of them without touching, he returned to the first one and glanced at the Hero again. Link nodded once again while staying silent. The dark Hylian took once a deep breath before gently and carefully touching the first one.

Dark checked the smoothness of the surface, the size of the shelves and the height of the bookshelf as well as the possible decorations. He carefully went through all of the given choices before backing off a bit again. Yet, the dark Hylian very soon realized that his gaze returned time after time again into one specific one.

This bookshelf was made of red wood. It was about Dark's height and had each of the shelves in equal height from each other. There were no decorations other than in the feet of the bookshelf. The feet looked bit like flames, or at least that's what Dark saw in them. In all reality the decoration was nothing more than some fancy swirls with few parts that could've taken as leaves.

Dark eventually walked back to the bookshelf and carefully touched its side again. As it was only for show, it was already filled with different kind of books and other stuff. Yet, the dark Hylian had already made his choice. "I want this one." He told confidently and turned to look at Link bit uncertainly.

Link nodded with a smile and walked next to Dark. "Alright. Let's see then... The production number is..." He started and took a grip of the price tag which had all of the information of the specific kind of bookshelf and which was hanging from one of the shelves, having a long and thin yarn that was held in its place by one of the books.

"No... You don't get it. I want _this_ one." Dark told bit desperately. Link was tad surprised and raised his gaze into the darker Hylian. "Not one in a box. _This_ bookshelf is what I want." Dark stated bit more firmly.

The Hero blinked few times before frowning. "And why exactly? This one could've been here for months. It's not in the best of condition for certain either." Link told bit uncertainly.

The darker Hylian slumped slightly and unconsciously had very slight puppy-dog-eyes when he raised his gaze back up. "The color of the wood is perfect. There won't be any of work on putting it together. I like the look of it being already used. If we take one from a package, the coloration won't be the same. And maybe not even the flame decoration in the feet of the bookshelf." He listed as carefully as he could.

Link listened silently and nodded slowly. "Anything else?" He inquired while still feeling uncertain of trying to buy the already on show being bookshelf. "You do realize that we might _not_ get it bought. Not to mention that the coloration of the bookshelf might look different in our room compared into here." The Hero told as carefully as he could.

Dark sighed and turned his gaze into the bookshelf. "But I want this one..." He mumbled bit sorrowfully. "It would look perfect in our room." The dark Hylian whispered even quieter while carefully checking the surface of the bookshelf.

Link sighed bit heavily but nodded. "Alright. I'll see what I can do." He told and left to find the seller. Dark smiled a bit and watched after the Hero for a while before turning his gaze back into the chosen bookshelf of his.

Link found the seller from doing slight inventory of the sold things. As he heard the Hero coming towards him, he raised his gaze up before already nodding with a smile. "Found what you were searching for?" The seller inquired calmly.

"Kinda." Link answered and glanced towards Dark. "My brother has actually hit his eyes into one of the bookshelves that's already in display." He explained while fully hiding his slight uncertainty by acting much calmer than what he felt. The seller nodded slowly while frowning a bit.

"You mean he's not wanting to buy one in the box but actually the one that's been here for about, um... Six to eight months?" The guy inquired quite confused. Link just simply nodded. "Aaand he's not wanting any of other?" He asked while frowning even more.

The Hero shrugged as calmly as he could. "He's quite adamant about this." Link replied and turned to look at Dark. The dark Hylian was fully checking the bookshelf out but it was clear he wanted it. "That red wood bookshelf. What's your price for it?" The Hero inquired and turned his gaze back into the seller.

"Well..." The guy started before he already headed towards Dark. "I can't say anything until I know the condition and the actual price and all..." He explained while glancing at Link whom followed him. "You've made up your mind, my friend?" The seller inquired once he got close enough.

Dark jumped a bit in surprise since he hadn't heard anyone coming since his full notion had been in the bookshelf. He turned around very swiftly and looked bit uncertainly at Link. The Hero just nodded while smiling a bit. The dark Hylian nodded back before turning his gaze into the seller. "Yeah. I want this one." He finally answered into the question.

"Alright." The guy answered while deciding to try and see if the customer actually would go for a bookshelf of a better condition. "You want to carry it home yourself or would you like someone to bring it?" The seller inquired with a gentle smile.

Dark fully looked uncertain and he glanced again at Link before turning his gaze back into the guy. "Um... I want _this_ one. Not one from a box." He answered while having fully realized what the seller was trying. The dark Hylian wasn't certain at all about his next words but he hoped that Link would back him up. "Um... I... I and the Hero can carry this on our own and, um... We can come to build another one into this one's place..." He suggested as calmly as he could but fully failing to keep his voice strong enough.

The seller turned to look at Link at the suggestion. The Hero nodded straight off. "Do we have a deal?" He inquired calmly. The seller glanced at the bookshelf and from there into Dark and then into Link for couple of rounds. He wasn't certain at all about the situation since nothing like this had ever come into his way before.

"I..." The guy started before sighing heavily. "I need to think about the price." He finally told and moved next to the bookshelf. He checked the price tag before starting to check the bookshelf's condition as well as trying to remember how long it had been there already. Dark watched quite interested how the seller checked the bookshelf very carefully through. Link smiled while partly keeping his gaze in the darker Hylian.

Eventually the guy turned towards the duo and crossed his arms over his chest. "150 rupees." He stated very confidently. "It's half-price." The seller explained straight off. "I could ask for more since the bookshelf is in surprisingly good shape considering it's been on display for six and half months." He continued before waiting for the duo's choice on the situation.

Dark slumped fully while looking quite desperate. "I... I don't have that much..." He mumbled while looking longingly at the bookshelf before turning his gaze into Link. "W-would you loan me the money. Please?" The dark Hylian begged while nearly showing puppy-dog-eyes before turning his gaze back into the bookshelf. "I really want it..." He whispered sorrowfully.

The simple truth was that he hadn't thought to find a bookshelf he'd like so quickly. He honestly had thought to check all three places and compare the information of them as well as the prices. And now he _really_ wanted that one bookshelf.

Link watched Dark in silence before sighing and turning to look at the seller. "Hundred and fifty? That's your strict price?" He inquired while already having made his choice of paying the price and letting the darker Hylian have the time to gather the money to pay him back someday.

The seller nodded. "If you want someone to carry it for you, it'll cost a bit extra." He told calmly while not showing it but being actually ready to lower the price a bit more. There were very rare times when he saw a customer truly fall for something like what Dark had. It was so plainly clear that the dark Hylian had made his choice and would find a way to pay the price to get the bookshelf.

"So, we can have that one..." Link started and pointed to the bookshelf Dark had chosen. "...for 150 rupees?" He finished calmly. The seller nodded his confirmation. "Alright. I guess Dark can start to get the books off of there while I handle the payment, right?" The Hero continued while slightly raising one eyebrow.

The seller nodded straight off. "Of course. You two are going to carry it like that or...?" He inquired bit uncertainly.

"We'll carry it like that. Might take an hour or so but once we've gotten it to its rightful place, we'll come back to build a new bookshelf for display." Link confirmed before nodding to Dark. The darker Hylian was staring quite shocked at the Hero and having his mouth bit open. "So, get working, Dark. Get that bookshelf empty so we can take it along." Link told calmly before following the seller to handle the needed papers and the payment.

Dark stared after the Hero for a while before blinking couple of times and letting the information sink it. The bookshelf was his. Link had just confirmed they'd take it home. The dark Hylian felt like his legs couldn't hold him but as the realization fully struck, he smiled very widely and turned towards the bookshelf. He started to take the books off quite swiftly but also with full care and making the stacks in specific way so he could put them back the right way too.

The bookshelf was nearly empty when Link came back. "You're doing excellent work with it." He complimented while crouching down to help with the last books off. Dark blushed a bit while smiling slightly shyly.

"I'm going to be in debt to you for a long while." He half whispered but frowned when Link chuckled. The dark Hylian gasped a bit in surprise when the Hero hugged him.

"Not a chance. You'll pay me back when you can." Link told but in all reality he had already made a simple decision. The bookshelf was going to be his present to Dark since the dark Hylian's chosen birthday wasn't far. "Now, how about we carry it home?" Link suggested while standing up. Dark nodded eagerly and soon they were carrying the bookshelf out of the shop and into the streets towards the castle.

As they headed towards the castle, people fully turned to look at them. It was very rare cases when someone carried fully worked bookshelf instead of packed one. Link nodded to people with a smile while Darky actually blushed a bit at the attention they got. He hadn't thought to be such interest for people but he had a feeling the bookshelf had something to do with it.

The stairs of the castle were what brought bit of trouble since Dark didn't fully see them as he was the one in back. Yet, they took them slowly step by step. Eventually they reached their room which was when they had to put the bookshelf down to get the door opened. Luckily the bookshelf got through the door and they found enough of space for it between the stacks of books.

"So, where do you want this?" Link inquired once they had closed the door and taken a short rest. The Hero had sat down to a chair next to the table while Dark was at the bed. The dark Hylian didn't think even a second when he already pointed to the corner on left from the door. Link raised an eyebrow at the choice. "You've been thinking this through pretty well, haven't you?" He inquired and grinned slightly as Dark blushed and nodded. "Alright then. Let's clear the area and get things ready." The Hero stated and stood up.

It took about an hour as they cleaned the corner and put the bookshelf into its rightful place as well as cleaned it too. After that Dark started to fill it with the books but Link stopped him quite quickly. "We got another job before this since I know you'll be putting _lot_ of time into this task." He told with slightly amused grin. The darker Hylian blushed and nodded before already following Link out of their room and back to the shop.

The seller had already brought the next bookshelf into the right area in a box. The two Hylians nodded to the guy before straight off heading to the right area. Dark very carefully opened the box before taking the instructions out. Link carefully took the pieces out and already started to work with it since it wasn't first time he was putting a bookshelf up. He had helped people with their tasks after he had brought peace back to Hyrule. There had been lot of people who for one reason or another couldn't work this kind of things through and he had offered to help. Yet, before he got further than getting the pieces out, Dark already came over. "I got this." He stated straight off and pretty much pushed Link off of his way.

In the end the Hero couldn't do anything else than give the needed things over as the dark Hylian worked very precisely with the bookshelf. He made each of the shelves to be in same height from each other. Dark was working with the first bookshelf in his life but his way of working was like from someone who built bookshelves for living. It took nearly two hours before the new bookshelf for display was up and on its place. After that the dark Hylian put the books back in the exact same order as they had been in the first one.

Once the work was fully done, Dark stood up and checked his work. "There. I think it's all done now." He told and turned around to look at Link. The dark Hylian fully waited for the Hero's judgment of the situation and work.

The Hero was bit leaning against the sofa behind him while having been watching Dark's work with a slight grin on his face. "It's amazing job, Dark." He complimented happily and grinned a bit more as the darker Hylian blushed. The seller came over at then and looked bit awed at the situation.

"You done already?" He inquired bit startled. Dark just nodded and moved next to Link bit worriedly. The seller walked over to the new bookshelf on display and checked it fully. "Wow. You're fast and precise with your work..." The guy complimented while being taken off guard quite well.

The dark Hylian blushed a bit more and dropped his gaze down while feeling bit uncertain. He gasped slightly in surprise when Link gave him one-armed hug. The Hero was grinning quite proudly. "That's Dark for you." He stated happily and the seller nodded slowly. "And before you ask it, I'm quite certain he's not too interested of a job in doing the furniture. He got the talent but not the full interest." Link continued very swiftly.

The seller looked bit disappointed but nodded. "Any of chances I could request a quick job for good price now and then?" He inquired while feeling bit hopeful. The Hero chuckled and shrugged.

"M-maybe." Dark answered bit uncertainly before glancing at Link. "I-it depends on lot of things but I'm willing to help." He continued with slightly more confidence.

The seller nodded and smiled. "Alright. I'll keep that in mind." He told before glancing at the clock. "Though, unfortunately we won't be open than for an hour or so, so, um..." The guy continued bit sheepishly.

Link chuckled again and nodded. "Got it. See you around." He said before starting to lead Dark out of the shop. The dark Hylian nodded and waved to the seller with a slight smile while following the Hero.

The duo walked back to the castle and into their shared room in silence. Dark had lot to think about and Link knew it was best to give him the chance and time to get his head straight. "I'm going to wash up." The Hero told once they reached their room. The darker Hylian just simply nodded before already starting to work the books into the bookshelf.

Even though Link hadn't taken long with the washing up, Dark was nearly done with his work by the time the Hero came back. "You really _are_ fast..." Link whispered as he looked at the bookshelf and the couple of small stacks of books. The darker Hylian blushed and kept his gaze in his work. "Your turn or do you want to finish your work first?" The Hero inquired while sitting down to one of the chairs around the table. Dark just simply shrugged while continuing to work the books into the bookshelf.

Link stayed silent and just watched the darker Hylian's work. Dark carefully picked up a book, checked its size and skimmed through the back cover before turning his gaze into the bookshelf. Right after that he already put the book into there before picking the next one. It seemed like a slow work but the dark Hylian was surprisingly quick with it.

Once the last book found its place in the bookshelf, Dark took couple of steps backwards. He tipped his head to side a bit and skimmed it through. The bookshelf had lot of free shelves in there and only two and half shelves of books. The dark Hylian gave a slight nod, smiled and headed into the bathroom after that. When Dark had vanished into the bathroom, Link stood up and walked to the bookshelf.

The Hero was quite amazed of how well the books were sorted out. If he had put them into the bookshelf, he would've put them in the order he took them up. No sorting out whatsoever. But as he checked the work, the books seemed to be in alphabetic order. First by author and then by the book's name if there were more than one from same author. But that wasn't the only way of sorting. The books were also there in two different sections. First one was for story styled books while the second was for informational books. And both were sorted out in alphabetic order. And even that wasn't all. The books were sorted out by themes too. With informational books it consisted of historical, mythical and environmental way. With story styled books it was by fantasy, adventure and couple of romantic books as well as for short stories. Also, the half filled shelf was for the books that had been borrowed from the castle's library.

When Link heard Dark come back, he turned to look at the darker Hylian. "How did you manage this in such a short time?" The Hero inquired quite awed.

The darker Hylian shrugged but grinned slightly. "The stacks of books were already in specific orders. I only needed to check what each stack was about and that's it. It was basically just putting the books into the shelves and make sure they're in right order." He explained calmly.

Link was quite startled before already half groaning and facepalming. He felt like a total idiot for not having thought about it. In all reality he had thought the stacks of books being quite unsorted and all.

Dark frowned quite confused at the Hero's way of acting. "Link? You okay?" He asked bit worriedly. Link took once a deep breath and nodded.

"Yeah... You just keep proving that you're much wiser than what I give you credit for." The Hero answered with a slight smile while letting his hand fall and looking at the darker Hylian.

Dark nearly deadpanned at that. "I'm not sure if I should be offended by that..." He mumbled before grinning. "I might make things look unorganized but I do like things being in specific way. Easier that way and much easier when searching for something specific." The dark Hylian explained with a shrug.

Link chuckled and nodded. He could easily understand that part. "You're fully right about that. Everyone got their own logic in different things." The Hero concluded and walked to the bed.

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I know in the "blue print" there's a wardrobe in the place of the bookshelf but let's say that's an old version. ^^; They got both the wardrobe and the bookshelf on that area. =)

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	14. Pets of the dark Hylian

A/N: I have forgotten to say this earlier: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_. I'm sorry that I forgot to inform this important piece of information. T.T

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary: **Dark has had couple of pets in his life. One he had to give away but the other one he got to keep... Until the little pet got a life of her own.

**Information:** Sorry that I've been gone for very long time. I'm lacking on chapters. =( Haven't been active around here but I have uploaded several stories into DeviantArt. They're not _CaH_ related but it has Dark and Link and SDP's Dark. =) Give them a check.

And... HAPPY BIRTHDAY SDP! I hope you enjoy this story as much as the other one. =)

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**SITUATIONS FROM THEIR LIVES  
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CHAPTER 14: Pets of the dark Hylian  
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Dark had left the castle early that day. He left a short note for Link to the Hero's night table about going out to the field. The dark Hylian had taken along his weapons just in case even though there really rarely came up any of monsters. He didn't take Storm along since he wanted to just walk and enjoy the warm summer day.

Dark wasn't fond of water... At least not of the deeper waters since before he learned to swim he learned to drown and he _really_ hated that part. Yet, he still enjoyed the sound of the waves crashing into the shore as well as the slight sound of rivers. This was the reason he followed the small stream close to the Kokiri Forest.

The dark Hylian stopped at the edge of the woods and sat down. He closed his eyes and listened to the nature around him while enjoying the warmth of the starting day. Dark had taken bit of snack along but other than that he was willing to check the forest for possible berries and fruits that Link had taught him to find.

Dark hadn't been at his choice of place for less than couple of hours when slight cry of an animal in trouble caught his notion. The dark Hylian frowned and sat up while trying to figure out where the cries came from. Eventually he stood up and ventured into the forest behind him all the while following the stream.

The closer he got to the place, the more clearer the calls were and he could realize that the animal in trouble was a cat. The meowing was frightened and sad but it also was mixed with the sound of the stream. After a short trek further, Dark found a small white kitty clinging to a slippery rock in middle of the stream and meowing miserably.

The dark Hylian hesitated only for a second before already venturing into the stream. "It's okay, kitty-cat. I'm coming. Just hang on for a while longer. You'll be safe in no time." He kept on talking calmly and gently to the small cat in hopes of helping. The stream started to get bit stronger which got him to slide a bit along with it. _"Damn it..."_ Dark thought and called out the iron magic into the boots to keep himself fighting against the current while moving forward.

Eventually he got to the small cat and picked it up. The kitty gave very miserable and startled meow before already pulling its claws out. It didn't fight back, instead it struck its claws into the dark Hylian's tunic to hold on for its dear life. Dark held onto to the small cat and started to head back to where he had come from. Once on dry land he took the iron magic off and walked out of the forest and back into the field.

At there the dark Hylian sat down and started to dry the little ball of fur. The small kitty was first just meowing but that soon turned into cute little purr. Dark chuckled a bit but he was smiling as the little animal was calming down.

The Half-Shadow remembered the time Link had shown him just born kittens and given the book about cats. That book had provided him with the knowledge that he currently didn't have what the little kitty needed. For his luck the LonLon Ranch wasn't far. And that was his next destination once the little white furball was dry.

Dark held the small cat close to his chest. He smiled as the kitty quietly purred while not paying any of attention into the small claws holding on to his black tunic. After the shortish walk into the LonLon Ranch's area, the dark Hylian chose his way straight into the stables where the place's owner's daughter usually was at. Malon pretty much knew _everything_ about animals, horses especially but other creatures too.

Dark entered the stables and knocked on the wooden wall in inside. "Malon? Are you here?" He called while looking around. The stables seemed to always be bit dimly lit but it didn't bother him. His eyes were much quicker in getting used to the different light.

"OH! Dark!" The young woman called bit surprised while coming out from one of the stables. "What brings you here?" She inquired while smiling happily. Dark smiled while keeping his blush down as he walked closer to her.

"This little fella." The dark Hylian answered while gently taking the animal off of him and offering the kitty towards Malon. "Found it from slight trouble in middle of a stream. And, well..." He continued before shrugging slightly. "I don't really know how to look after this kitty." The Half-Shadow confessed.

Malon chuckled but little squealed at the white kitty. "Awww! He's so cute!" She told while gently taking the little furball from Dark. "I'll show you how to look after him. On that way you'll know how handle things." The young woman told with a wide smile. "Since he's still so young, he'll only eat milk for now." She instructed while giving the little animal back to the Half-Shadow as she worked out a bottle of milk and a small bowl.

Very soon the duo was watching with a smile as the kitty was lapping the milk. Dark barely even realized when Malon stood up and started to look around the stables. His whole notion was in the blue-eyed white furred kitty. That was the reason the dark Hylian was startled as the young woman came back.

"Since you are going to look after him, you'll be needing these." She told while presenting the items she had been searching for. In her hands was few bottles of milk, a similar small bowl and couple of toys. Malon smiled happily. "I'm sure you know what to do with these, right." She inquired with a slight tease in her voice. Dark blushed a bit but nodded. Yet, his blush brightened as the woman chuckled a bit.

At the evening, Dark left the LonLon Ranch. Malon had given him all the information she could on the topic of how to look after a small kitty. The dark Hylian had listened very carefully and he was pretty certain he knew what to do and how. Though, would he end up with a problem, he could always come back for help.

For the Half-Shadow's luck, the little kitty had fallen asleep as he returned to the castle. He was bit hoping to avoid crashing with people and even more so of the white furball _not_ waking up. _"So far, so good."_ Dark thought as he got to the door of the room he shared with Link. Yet, that was as far as his luck would carry him.

"I thought you told that you'd be back for evening meal. _At least_." Came bit of an disappointed voice of the Hero on the moment the dark Hylian entered the room. Dark stopped dead on his tracks while gulping once and turning his bit of a sheepish look into Link. He had _fully_ hoped for the Hero to have been asleep by now.

"I... Um..." Dark started while trying to keep the kitty and all of the things hidden. "Lost the track of time...?" He continued with a voice that fully told he had just come up with the excuse instead of having thought it out before.

"Dark... Don't lie to me." Link stated bit sternly while sitting up. Unlike with Dark, his eyesight wasn't as good as the Half-Shadow's was in dim light. "Where have you been?" The Hero continued while trying to stay calm.

"Um... At the field, bit in the forest and then at the LonLon Ranch before coming back." Dark answered. He was fully grateful of the easy inquiry since there was no need to lie about that part.

Link frowned a bit while feeling like he shouldn't put up the next question. "LonLon Ranch? What were you doing at there?" The Hero inquired while getting bit uncertain of what it could mean.

Dark shrugged while still staying by the door. "It's one of the few places where I can be close to animals. You know I like them." He answered with the honest answer but also with the words Link already knew. Right after the dark Hylian had ended his second sentence, the little kitty in his arms gave out a little mew.

Link had first nodded in full thought of leaving the inquiring there but as the small cat gave himself out, the Hero deadpanned. "And seemingly decided to bring one of the said animals back home too." He stated before groaning and facepalming as he crashed back down to the bed back first. "How many times have I told to you, Dark, _not_ to bring animals into here?"

Dark ended up looking extremely sheepish as he walked to the bed and sat down. "Um... More times than needed?" He suggested while putting the given things into his night table. Link sighed bit exaggerated but he sat back up when he heard the little purring that the kitty was doing.

"So, where did you find that little purring machine?" The Hero asked while reaching out to gently scratch the kitty behind the ear. The small cat purred a bit louder and moved his head bit towards the touch. Link smiled slightly while trying to deny how the feline was already melting his heart.

"He's the reason I was at the forest in the first place. He had somehow gotten into middle of a stream. He was clinging to a rock and mewing so desperately." Dark started his explanation and continued from there how he had rescued the kitty and taken him into the LonLon Ranch. "So, um... Thought I could look after him." The dark Hylian ended with slightly hopeful tone in his voice.

Link sighed heavily and shook his head. "I'm sorry to say this, Dark, but you should've left him at the LonLon Ranch. We're not able to look after a small kitty that's needing looking after whole time." He started sorrowfully. "You know we're here very rarely and sometimes we might not even visit at here for several days." The Hero continued while pulling away. The small cat was stirring up memories he'd rather forget.

Dark sighed heavily and nodded. "I understand." He half mumbled while looking at the little kitty sorrowfully. "But at least until I've found a good home for him? Please?" The dark Hylian continued with slightly hopeful voice.

Link sighed and nearly facepalmed. He couldn't deny Dark from looking after the kitty for that time but he also had a fear of him using that as an excuse to have the kitty longer with them. "Fine. But only as long as it takes to find a home for the cat." Link stated before giving stern look to the dark Hylian. "And we'll have the next rules up. One, _you_ look after the cat. Two, _you_ clean after it. And three... The kitty sleeps on the floor." He commanded.

Dark nodded at the first two before whining about the third. "Awww! But the floor's too cold for him! A-and what about him ending up stepped on!" He worried while holding the kitty close to his chest. Link sighed heavily and facepalmed.

"And what about the kitty getting squished by us?" He inquired and glanced at his Shadow. Yet, the darker Hylian was already making a place for the kitty to sleep in... On the bed. _"Dear Goddesses, please, let the kitty survive through the next nights..."_ The Hero begged while laying back down and keeping his back to the duo.

During that night neither of the two Hylians slept much because of the fear of hurting the little kitty in the bed. Yet, that small creature was the one who woke the dark Hylian up by licking at his face. Link woke up into Dark's quiet chuckling. The Hero couldn't help but smile as he listened to the praises the Half-Shadow was giving to the purring feline.

A while later Link left the bed to get ready for the day while Dark still played with the kitty. The dark Hylian turned around when the Hero came back into the room. "Hey Link... I think I know a good name for this kitty." He started and hid his grin into the white fur of the small cat. Link had a feeling of dread as he simply nodded to show he was listening. "I was thinking to name him... Link." Dark told out while grinning very widely.

Link groaned and sat down to a chair. "You will _not_ name the cat after me." He stated straight off. Dark whined and gave slight puppy-dog-eyes.

"Aww! Why not?" He inquired and came over to the table and carefully placed the small cat on it. "Just look at him! He's like you! And even having blue eyes!" The dark Hylian tried to reason.

"No, no and no." Link told with bit of a stern voice. "That cat will _not_ be named as me."

"It'll be a huge honor." Dark tried but the look on Link's face changed the darker Hylian's look into very sheepish one. Eventually the Half-Shadow sighed bit exaggerated. "Fine. I'll come up with something else..." He half mumbled before whispering very quietly: "Meanie."

For the next few days things seemed to go well. Dark was showing the kitty around the Market as well as taking very good care of the small cat. Link actually liked to see the dark Hylian smiling but he knew it couldn't last. For his Shadow's sake he told about the cat to Princess Zelda. The Hero didn't request it at all but she eventually gave few days long mission. Dark didn't know about the length of the mission as didn't Link but the Hero had his suspicions up about it.

When they finally came back three days later, the dark Hylian suddenly remembered something he should've kept in his mind whole time. "Kitty!" He shouted in near terror and started to run towards the castle. Link ran after him as Dark dashed through the castle and into their shared room.

The Half-Shadow stopped dead on his tracks after opening the door. In middle of the room was sitting Princess Zelda and she was playing with the small white kitty. "Y-Your Highness?" Dark called in both shock and worry.

Zelda stood up carefully while making sure the cat was safe. "Dark Link." She replied with stern, yet somehow gentle voice. "If the Hero had not informed me about this cat, it would currently be in very bad shape." The Princess told the facts out bit coldly.

Dark gulped and dropped his gaze down while bit slumping and letting his ears droop. "Y-yes, Your Highness... I-I am aware of that..." He replied bit ashamed.

"This is not a place for a small kitty, Dark Link." Zelda stated and Dark just simply nodded. "Either you give the cat to the stable worker or then you find the cat a home from somewhere else. I do not have the time to look after kittens." She continued and the dark Hylian nodded again while staying silent.

Link nodded to Zelda as she left and he went next to Dark before already circling his arm around the Half-Shadow's shoulders. "Dark, bro, I've told you before and I tell it again. No matter how much I'd like us to have a pet, we just simply don't have the time to look after an animal that needs our notion and care. And a small cub is even more vulnerable for this kind of situations." He started bit sorrowfully. Dark still stayed silent but he was listening.

The small kitty walked over to the dark Hylian and looked up to him while meowing quite cutely. Dark smiled a bit and carefully sat down. "I'm sorry, kitty." He whispered while picking the cat up and hugging him. "I'm so sorry."

After that incident, the small kitty got a good home from a family which lived at the Market. Dark didn't want to break his connection into the cat but he knew it might be best if he did. For few days the dark Hylian was really missing the kitty but he knew this was for the best. And before he knew, he and Link were already handling another long mission and it was best that he didn't need to worry for a little kitty at the time.

Later that summer the dark Hylian was walking around Lake Hylia. He accidentally found a bird's nest. On quick glance all of the eggs had already hatched and the family wasn't anywhere near to be seen. Dark carefully took a closer look and actually found an intact egg. Suddenly the egg shook a bit and startled the Half-Shadow. He blinked few times as he thought to have seen wrongly but soon the egg shook again.

It didn't take long before the small duckling broke a piece of the white egg off. Dark gasped but he was too mesmerized to move away. He watched how the small creature broke free and opened its small eyes. Very soon it gave out a quiet quack. The dark Hylian chuckled a bit and looked around. He needed to find the bird's real family but unfortunately he didn't see any of birds around whom could be this fella's family.

Dark knew better than to touch the bird. Link had taught him on that part but as he was trying to leave, the duckling followed him. The Half-Shadow tried to get the yellow bird with brown stripes to stay put but it whole time just followed him. _"Link's going to kill me for this..."_ Dark thought with slight deadpan as he picked the bird up and headed back to the castle.

Surprisingly the Hero didn't get angry at the dark Hylian. Instead he seemed bit disappointed and worried. "I think I have told you at some point that birds have this little thing which gets them to think that the first thing they see is their parent." Link started before sighing. "And seemingly this fella saw you as the first thing when she hatched." He concluded. The Hero sighed again and shook his head. "This means that you have to look after that small creature or otherwise it ends up dead one way or another." He told while fully dreading the thought of taking care of a small bird. He sure as hell was _NOT_ worried about Dark's ability of looking after the duckling. He was only worried for the duckling's life in overall as it would be following Dark _everywhere_.

As it ended to be the small duck was following the dark Hylian into bathroom, through the hallways, into the Market and, most dreadfully, into the missions. And sorrowfully, the bird didn't let Link anywhere near her. She pretty much started to quack nonstop, flap her tiny wings and trying to run away until Link either put the bird back down or Dark picked her up. The little duckling didn't let anyone else feed her either.

Dark was whole time trying to keep the small bird in his pocket as they were checking some dungeon, old ruins, temple or just some specific area. There had been few close calls when the bird had nearly ended running into molten lava. That had freaked both of the Hylians out quite harshly. Luckily the duckling got off without harm at then. And then there was the times when the small animal tried to help in a fight by biting and just getting the bad guy's notion into herself. Yet, both Dark and Link were more worried for the duckling to get hurt or killed at then.

As the time went by, the duck grew up. And the most fun scene was when Dark tried to teach the bird to fly. Running around and flapping his arms up and down. Link had lot of fun watching the teaching. Yet, the luck had it that the bird learned to fly. And she did learn to find her own food too. Though, that was more of the Hero's back-up on it since he first taught the info to the Half-Shadow whom taught it to the bird.

Yet, with all that learning came parting. The duck found a mate from Lake Hylia. Dark knew it was for the best but it still hurt as he realized that the duck wanted to spend most of her time at the Lake instead of following him. Once the late autumn reached Hyrule, most of birds, ducks along, left to warmer areas... And so did the duck he had raised.

Dark had kept himself intact on that day so he wouldn't hurt the duck but at the next day, he broke down. Link kept holding him while reassuring that everything would be alright. He couldn't promise for the female duck to come back but he kept telling to hold on to that hope. At least the dark Hylian had his memories of the duck.

And one of those little memories was when Dark had tried to adopt a brown bunny too. _He had been looking after the white kitty at then as the kitty's family had needed visit at a place where animals weren't allowed. So, the dark Hylian had taken the small cat and the duckling into the field. He had put the duck on top of a wooden fence's pole while knowing that the little fella couldn't really get hurt if she fell. The kitty was pretty much trying to play off with the bandages on his hands since he wasn't having his gauntlets on at that day. And then the little bunny had come over._

_When Link had come to check on him, he found Dark playing with all three. As soon as the dark Hylian noticed the Hero, he already gave the puppy-dog-eyes while inquiring if he could keep the bunny too. Unfortunately Link had told stern _No_._

Winter came forth as did Christmas. Dark missed the duck quite a much. He still thought about the white kitty now and then but in the end he hadn't created such strong bond which he had to the bird. When the spring came forth, the dark Hylian spend most of his time at Lake Hylia and waited for the ducks to come back.

As the birds were returning, Dark tried to find his protégé from all of them. Link tried to calm him down while telling that it wasn't easy to know one from the other. Yet, the dark Hylian didn't listen. He didn't believe the Hero's words and kept telling he'd know the bird once he'd see her.

Two months after the first birds had come and still nothing. Dark already feared for the worst but he tried to tell himself that maybe the place, wherever that was, was what she needed. Safety, lot of food and home. Maybe she didn't miss him. Maybe she was fully happy where she was. Still, the dark Hylian did want to know what had happened.

Few days later and the Half-Shadow woke up to very familiar quacking. He straight off shouted the bird's name and shot up from the bed. Dark ran to the window and opened it up. The female duck flew into the room while quacking happily. The dark Hylian hugged the bird gently but firmly.

Link woke up to the quacking and shuffling. He was bit confused at first but soon he smiled as he realized the scene. "Told you she's alright." The Hero half whispered but the dark Hylian wasn't really paying attention into him.

The bird didn't stay long. Yet, it was clear she was asking Dark to follow her. After that she flew out of the room and continued her road. The Hero's Shadow changed clothes in record time, dashed out of the castle and rode to Lake Hylia very swiftly. Link followed him but on slower pace.

Once Dark was at the lake and off of Storm's back, he already rushed to the shore. It didn't take long before the female duck swam to him. Her husband followed her. The Half-Shadow put the male duck's outlook and quacking sounds into memory so he'd recognize him from everywhere.

Few months later the duo met with Dark again at the Lake. This time there was five ducklings following her. The dark Hylian had been nearly on daily basis at the Lake but seeing and getting to know the ducklings, was the best day in his life.

With the autumn the duck family left again. But, like during the first year, the female visited at Dark's and Link's room to give her goodbyes for the winter. Even though the parting hurt a bit, the dark Hylian knew she'd come back with her family at the next spring.

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If you check SDP's DeviantArt page (carrie-j), you can find two pictures for this story. The first one is called _Dark's kitten_ and the second one is _Dark's Pets_. =)

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	15. International Women's Day 2015

A/N: I have forgotten to say this earlier: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_. I'm sorry that I forgot to inform this important piece of information. T.T

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary:** Dark is bying a present for his wife. And he has few very loving words for her too.

**Other notion:** Happy International Women's Day! =) This story is slight hint of how things will be going once Dark meets this mystery girl of his life. I am still on hiatus but I try to upload a story or few now and then. Yet, I think I'm more active in dA so give a check in there now and then. And sorry for the story to be so short.

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**SITUATIONS FROM THEIR LIVES  
><span>**

CHAPTER 15: International Women's Day 2015  
><span>

Link and Dark were at a clothe store. The Hero was having a slight grin on his face as he checked for something he could buy to Zelda. Eventually he found something very sexy. "Hey, Dark, you ready yet?" He called while glancing at the darker Hylian.

"Almost." The Half-Shadow replied while going through one line of shirts. Link frowned while coming to his shadow's side. The clothes the darker one was going through weren't exactly something considered as sexy.

"You sure you're in the right part, Dark?" He inquired calmly.

"Fully." Dark replied without glancing at the Hero. "There's just itty bitty difference between us, Link." He stated calmly.

"And that would be?" Link asked while raising one eyebrow.

"You search for something you want to see on your wife. I search for something what my wife wants to wear." The darker Hylian explained and finally raised his gaze up. "Difference is in the one who wants to see the chosen clothing on them. You chose that because _you_ want to see it on her. I choose this because _she_ wants to wear it." Dark told while already going back into searching for right size.

"So, you're not interested on what she's wearing?" Link inquired bit confused.

Dark chuckled and shook his head. "That's not what I said, Link." He told with a grin. "In my opinion she looks amazingly beautiful no matter what she wears. As long as she's happy with her clothes, it'll be perfect in my eyes on her." The dark Hylian said before already giving a victorious grin. "Found it!" He called while pulling the shirt out.

Dark checked the shirt to make sure it was clean and there were nothing broken. Only after that he checked the price... And groaned before muttering: "She did tell it was expensive..."

Link frowned and checked the price before whistling. "Sheesh, I didn't know they had _this_ expensive ones here... That's pretty much our whole salary from one month..." He half whispered before turning his gaze back into his shadow. "You sure you want to buy that?" The Hero asked bit worriedly.

Dark looked bit uncertain before he took once a deep breath and nodded with a determined look on his face. "She wants it, she gets it." He stated confidently. "So, you ready to leave?" The Half-Shadow inquired and Link nodded.

Few hours later Dark was back home. He tried to get inside silently but he was very soon met with a woman of his life. "And where exactly have you been?" She inquired while having bit of a hurt look on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. Dark gulped once while looking sheepish.

"I thought I'd get back home before you'd wake up..." The Half-Shadow started bit apologetically before sighing. "I'm sorry, honey. I honestly didn't mean to straight off break my promise. The thing is..." He continued and took the package from behind him where he had kept it hidden. "I didn't have the chance during the week nor at yesterday so I had to handle things today. And, well, I crashed up with Link and..." Dark explained before shrugging. "You know how I end up just talking with him and all..." He said with a sheepish look on his face.

The woman sighed but smiled. "You really are adorable when you look like that." She told with a smile while taking the offered package. Dark blushed but he was smiling happily. As the woman opened the package she first frowned before looking bit shocked. "Dark... You do realize how much this costs?" She inquired worriedly.

Dark nodded bit sorrowfully. "I know but I also know you really want it." He answered but before the woman had a chance to say a word, she found Dark's finger at her lips. "And I want to see you happy. I don't care of the money, just of you. And you know that we can easily live off of smaller money too. Link's taught me about how to live from the nature. And you know Link will borrow us money would we need it. Not to mention that we can pay him back slowly when we get the money for it. Hell, he can be even damn stubborn and claim it's not a loan but gift or something of such." The Half-Shadow explained.

The woman was still uncertain but she sighed and nodded. "You sure of this?" She inquired bit worriedly. Dark smiled and nodded.

"Fully. The only reason you'd take it back to the shop is to get the right size. I _think_ I got it right but..." He started before already shrugging. "There are differences in the shirts so I can't be fully certain."

The woman chuckled but she was smiling and eventually gently kissed Dark to lips. "Thanks, honey. This is amazing." She whispered before grinning. "So, let's try it on then." She said while already starting to get her current shirt off.

Dark blushed extremely bright red while very swiftly hiding his face into his hands. The woman chuckled. "Aww, Darky! Are you embarrassed or are you trying to give me the privacy of changing a shirt?" She inquired with a teasing voice.

If any of possibilities, Dark blushed even brighter. "Both." He replied in near whine. That only gained another chuckle. The dark Hylian sighed bit heavily when finally his love told she was ready. He dropped his hands down and opened his eyes before already smiling. "That looks amazing on you. Is the size good?" Dark stated straight off.

The woman blushed before doing a quick pirouette to show the shirt better. "It's perfect." She told with a smile before already coming over to Dark and sitting down to his lap. "Yet, you always say the clothes look amazing on me." She told with slight pout.

Dark smiled and kissed her. "That's because you look beautiful no matter what you wear. As long as you're happy with your clothes, it'll be amazing on you." He answered and smiled at the blush the woman was having at his words.

"You are such a romantic." The woman teased with a smile.

Dark grinned slightly. "You know I only say what I see as the truth." He countered before already continuing. "As for a fact I know that the moon and stars are no match to your beauty. Nor can you be compared into the sunrise or sunset as you are more beautiful than one can described." The dark Hylian told which only got his love to blush even brighter.

Yet, Dark was far from stopping. "As I know all that, I also know that my love towards you knows no boundaries and has no limits. You had me the second I saw you." He half whispered.

The woman sighed lovingly. "What did I ever do to gain you?" She inquired while gazing into the gentle fiery eyes of the dark Hylian.

Dark smiled and pressed their foreheads together. "All you ever needed to do was to smile and I was yours to take." He whispered before gently kissing her. "I love you. I love you so much..." The Half-Shadow told quietly while gazing into her eyes until kissing her once again.

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A/N: So, review, please! =D Even anonymous ones are accepted but if you got a account in here or at DeviantArt, inform of the penname so I can leave a review reply! Otherwise the review reply will be on my profile page or in the next chapter! Thank You!

**Still in working:  
>1) <strong>Do a drawing from one of my stories and I'll write you a story OR I can give bit of _preview_ from upcoming chapters or next stories. =)  
><strong>2)<strong> Send questions to Dark and/or Link! Also, other characters will be answering if you want to send a question for them! =)


	16. Secrets of the Hero

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary:** Link is one who does not want others to see him breaking down.

**Notion:** I am still on hiatus / pause but I'm trying to get things back into working. Until then, enjoy of this story. Thanks.

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**SITUATIONS FROM THEIR LIVES**

CHAPTER 16: Secrets of the Hero

Link left early at that day. He didn't leave a note for his younger brother since he really didn't know what to say and he couldn't make promises. All he did know was that he needed to get out. It wasn't the first time and he was sure it wouldn't be the last one either. Before it had been easy since the younger brother of his hadn't shared the room with him. Now he had to try to sneak out and most of the time that failed. But, this time he was lucky.

Link moved swiftly, skillfully and silently through the castle and the country yard. He used all the chances for hiding like the shadowy areas, trees, bushes and such. He couldn't let anyone see him. He didn't want to talk with even one single person. Not this time. He just felt like things were crashing and he couldn't let anyone see that.

Once Link was in the forest that surrounded the castle's area from three sides, Link let himself calm down a bit. He quickly climbed into a tree and moved through there. It was one of the few ways he could move fast and silently while knowing exactly where he was.

Usually Link had went towards left, somewhere between the castle and the Gerudo but this time he chose opposite road. It was bit thicker forest and harder to get through. He hadn't checked it much so it was bit for exploration too. Not that he was there to explore and learn. He left there to be alone. To let his mind fly.

Link knew very clearly that he could've gone to his older brother's place. It was one of the very few places where no-one waited for him to be The Hero. Yet, he also knew he wouldn't be able to just be. He'd end up doing one thing or another. To put the fire on, to do the dishes, to cut firewood or something else. He just felt so damn useless if he just sat there and did nothing.

Link knew he shouldn't have felt like that but he couldn't help it. The part of being a Hero just stuck on him hard and shaking it off was the hardest thing in his life. He just felt obligated to do something nearly constantly. And that sometimes just weighted him down very hard. He never let it show but sometimes it just started to be too much to bear. And that was when he needed to leave. To be out of everyone's sight. To be just a nobody.

But Link knew that would never work for him. Whole Hyrule knew who he was. The close by kingdoms knew who he was. The kingdoms after that knew who he was. His reputation just moved forward and further. The whole world knew who he was and there was no place for him to hide. No place for him to be just one among others. Because of this he partly understood his younger brother's wish to be just one among others.

Link didn't know his younger brother's full story. He only knew the small things that had been given so far, the small bits and pieces he had picked up from his words and actions and what he had heard from the others. It wasn't much but he hoped it was enough for now. There was no chances he'd push his brother to talk if he wasn't ready and willing. He fully believed that the younger dark Hylian would talk once he'd feel like it.

Link jumped down from the tree and started to get his things off. He needed to get away from everything. He needed to leave his burdens behind. At least for a moment. But each thing he carried, the Master Sword, the Hylian Shield, the artifacts he had gathered from the Temples, the green tunic and hat, the white shirt and pants, the shoes... Everything. It all just reminded him of what and who he was. A Hero. No, _The_ Hero. The one who travelled through time back and forth. The one who went into the deepest Temples filled with monsters, dangers, horrors and hell. The one who fought for what was right. The one who had not been older than seven when he faced his first monsters. The child whom had lost everything in that one faithful day.

Link wanted to leave it all behind. At least for a short moment. He knew none of it would stay away for forever. It would be stuck with him as long as he lived. Maybe even after that. He just wanted short moment of peace and calm. He deserved that, right? After all he had gone through, it wouldn't be too much asked... Right? Just for a moment.

Link had done some preparations throughout the years. He had found few places where he believed to be safe from the other people. To be fully alone and without anyone coming to bother him. No requests of telling his story, helping with something, asking for signature or his thoughts about one thing or another. Just a place where no-one would find him... Okay, maybe that was bit overestimated. There were _always_ people who could find him no matter where he'd go. The first two would be his brothers. The younger one had a connection with him which neither of them understood. With the older one he had made a blood-pact. Or at least the older brother did and very much delighted the Hero once he understood the situation. The third one was the Princess. Maybe it was because she was a Sage or chosen by the Goddesses too. He didn't know but he didn't care either. The next six places went for the rest of the Sages... Aaand that was pretty much all of them. Oh, not to forget the three Goddesses. _They_ would know _everything_ and _everyone's_ places without even slightest bit of doubt.

Still, Link didn't think about that. Unless there'd be something _seriously_ important to happen, none of the ones knowing his place would call him. And this was what he was counting on. Though, knowing his own feelings, he bit feared to worry his brothers. Yet, he hoped they could give him the day before they'd come to search him out.

Once Link had gotten everything off that reminded him of his actual life, he picked some clothes from a well hidden chest. It was nothing grand, just some used clothes that he had bought at one day. He had had a robe on to hide his identity at that day. Luckily that had worked and no-one knew of his doings. Soon after that he had went to hide the clothes into the forest. He had few of similar hideouts around the woods.

Link checked the area to make sure all of his things were well hidden before he left deeper into the forest. He knew perfectly well where he was heading and soon enough he found a stream of cold water. He knelt down to the edge of the water and started to splash some water to his face. Yet, soon enough he was leaning over the water while having both of his hands in the water and at the bottom of the area. He sighed heavily, slumped a bit and closed his eyes.

Link didn't want to think about his past. He didn't want to think about anything. He just simply wanted to be. But he knew his mind wouldn't shut up. He knew it was times like these that everything just came crashing down around him. The memories of his quest, the future he was to have and realization of what he'd never have.

Link sighed heavily and shakily before raising one hand to his face. Soon the other one followed and he started to cry. This was what he didn't want others to see. Him breaking down. Him not being as strong and undefeatable as everyone thought him to be.

Link knew his older brother had seen him break down few times. Partly he was grateful of it since it was also the first times someone actually understood and accepted. Yet, part of him hated it. He hated to show being vulnerable. It wasn't what he was supposed to be. It wasn't what was waited of him. He just desperately tried to live up to the expectations and letting someone see him crash... It was hard but at the same time he truly had needed a shoulder to cry on. Someone he could count on no matter what.

Link knew that having his older brother was his younger brother's doing. The younger dark Hylian... Well, he knew the young Shadow to have gone through a lot even when he didn't know all. And that had brought the pure hate towards Ganondorf. Thanks to that feeling, he had been able to get through the dark Hylian and showed him the better side of the life. Inside seven years it had given him a younger brother, the first person in years he could count on and trust fully. Yet, he couldn't let go of his own situation. He still needed to be the Hero. Simply because he was the _older_ brother and on that way not fully equal.

Bit over two years later the other dark Hylian had come over. The two dark Hylians had taken a while but quite soon they found a connection. Link had tried to stay back and not get messed into things. Yet, after few situations, the older dark Hylian had called him as _brother._ Link almost choked when he heard the word come out of the other one's mouth. He had never thought to gain an older sibling, a brother even less. For some time he thought that it was partly on the younger dark Hylian's sake but... Eventually he understood it was for real. He had an older brother.

That, of course, brought new problem for Link. He had never thought much about what others thought about him. He was a Hero and that was the main thing there was. No-one would think any of more or less of him because of that. But now... Now the thoughts of another person meant almost _everything_ to him. He wanted to make his older brother proud of him. He wanted to have his appreciation. He wanted to be the best younger brother there was. For first time in his life, he craved for acceptance and caring. Wishing to have the other one's notion while making that person happy.

Link knew it was fully different compared to what he had for Princess Zelda, towards the younger dark Hylian, the Sages or whole Hyrule. He already knew his place with them but not with his older brother. Sure, the thoughts of everyone, close and far to him, meant a lot to him but... There's was something more with the words the older dark Hylian spoke. Something stronger, something more influencing. He didn't know what, why or how but he took the other one's words to heart, both good and bad. Slowly the realization dawned to him... Ever since the Great Deku Tree's death, he had had no-one to look up to. Not until now.

Link slowly calmed down and let his hands fall back into the stream as he just stared at the water. There were still few tears within his eyes but he didn't brush them away. He sighed sorrowfully but smiled slightly. Thinking about his brothers always somehow helped him. He chuckled shortly as the next truth came up. If either or both of his brothers hadn't been on his side, he would've been dead long ago.

Link thought back to few times when they had faced some monsters together, either with one or both of his brothers by his side. This reminded him of their strength. The younger dark Hylian didn't really show it but he was much stronger both physically and by magic than what he was. If the young Shadow would've wanted him dead, the dark Hylian wouldn't have had any of trouble killing him in a fair fight. Same went with his older brother. Well, maybe even more with him since somehow he always thought him to be actually stronger than the younger one. And if the younger one could defeat him, the older one wouldn't have any of trouble in such. Not to mention that little trick the older Shadow got. Water. The taller dark Hylian could easily tie him up by water before drowning him.

Link shuddered at the thought while fully thanking the Goddesses for the duo to be on his side. And more so on being his _brothers_. He couldn't be more grateful of that even if he tried. The two of them were his closest friends and the ones he could confide to without worry. Yet, there were times like these he just couldn't stand being around anyone, not even his closest family and friends.

Link closed his eyes and took few deep breaths to calm down. The sounds of the nature soon filled his mind and he smiled slightly. This was the peace and tranquility he needed now and then. It reminded him of the Kokiri Forest and the time he had when he had been just a kid. Yet, soon he sighed sorrowfully and wrapped his arms around him while slightly bowing his head. He didn't want to cry all over again but he couldn't help it. The tears just started to roll down his face and he slowly moved one hand to hide his face.

Link remembered all of those he had lost. The Great Deku Tree, the ones whom had become as Sages and whom were his friends, Volvagia, his parents whom he had never had the chance to know, all of the people who lost their lives when Ganondorf took the rule over Hyrule and everyone else he more or less had learned to know. None of them deserved the fate that had befallen on them. He wanted to blame Ganondorf for everything but could he honestly do that...?

Link hated the facts he had learned years after defeating Ganondorf and Ganon. He wasn't fully certain of the truth within them but most of the things were same what the Gerudos told. Ganondorf had wanted better life for his people, the Gerudo, but having only the Triforce of Power had driven him mad for power. His plans had changed and that was when things started to go downhill for whole Hyrule.

Link wanted to at least blame the monsters but as he thought things through, that wouldn't have been right either. The creatures had been creations of Ganondorf but in the end... Those hideous beast had had rights to live too. In the new world they only tried to find their place to live. Just like everyone else. Fear and misunderstandings were what drove the sides against each other. Sure, most of the monsters were nothing but cruel killers but there had to be few within them that would've wanted things to go different. Yet, those were either killed on the spot or never had the chance to change their lives for better.

There was no-one Link could honestly blame. When he thought to have found the one in fault, there always came something that made things different. He didn't know who to blame. He didn't even know if what he had done had been right. And yet, as he thought about his life, he couldn't really blame himself either. He had been only seven when his quest had started. He had tried to save the one whom had raised and guarded him as long as he could remember but only to see the only father figure of his life to die. To honor his wish, he had gone for the quest... Which ended up being so much more.

Link moved his hand off of his face and just stared at it. For so long and for so many times he had raised the sword to fight, to kill, to protect, to do what he thought to be right. He remembered all of the monsters, the horrors, the traps and the puzzles he had to go through. He remembered way too clearly the screams, the sound of the monsters as they moved or attacked, the dying sound of those beasts, the screeches of the traps, the ticking of the clock in some areas... He remembered it all and couldn't get it out of his head. He remembered the outlook of the monsters with every gruesome detail. He remembered all of the strikes he had received.

Link closed his eyes, pulled his legs against his chest and wrapped his arms around them while resting his forehead against his knees. He tried not to cry while breathing shakily. He remembered the monsters in the Kokiri Forest while fearing to have come too late. That those beasts had eaten or mauled the children. He remembered the empty Goron City and screams of the Gorons in the Fire Temple. He remembered the frozen Zoras in their Domain and the absence of Lord Jabu-Jabu. He remembered the burning of Kakariko Village and screams of the people trapped in the burning houses. He remembered the Gerudos whom followed blindly their leader Nabooru whom had been brainwashed to do Ganondorf's bidding. He remembered all that and how he had desperately tried to help and save as many as he could. Still, he felt like he should've been able to do even more for everyone's sake.

Link moved his hands to his shoulders as he cried. He felt like he could've done more. That he could've saved more. That he had failed too many. _War has its casualties._ It was something he had heard once but it opened up to him very slowly. Once it did, he knew he couldn't save everyone no matter how he'd try. Yet, that didn't stop him from trying his best to save as many as possible. Even when that felt like too little.

Link knew he was only bringing himself down on the way he was thinking but he didn't care. From time to time he just needed to put everything into right order. To find where he was standing and what were his reasons to keep going. To remind himself that what he did had been right. Yet, sometimes it was just hard to find the reasons. To realize the truth behind the words, actions and situations. Sometimes he wished he was blind to everything but he knew that wasn't the case and never would be. He had his eyes and ears open whole time while searching a way to help on the best way he could. And that felt like a curse.

Link opened his eyes and stared at his lap. At the dark brown pants and light blue shirt that he was wearing at that day. They weren't his. Sure, by the fact that he had bought them, they were but... It didn't feel nor look right on him. He smiled slightly lopsidedly. It was exactly how he wanted it. To try and pretend to be something he wasn't. To be a person that had been buried so long ago.

Link sighed heavily and raised his head so his chin was resting on his knees. That seven year old child had raised his head after almost fifteen years of hiding. The very first time he had let himself crash and be the scared kid he felt, was during the first time he had been at his older brother's place. On that night he had tried to sleep on his own while desperately denying the feeling of being one too much in there. He hadn't realized that his older brother had noticed but the words he spoke at that night never left him. _Hey tough guy...Did you forget that you're my little brother too?_ He could've swore his heart missed a beat and that he hadn't breathed for a moment. Those words were something he had wished to hear for so long that it hurt to hear them now. Yet, what mattered the most was that the one who spoke those words also meant them from whole heart. On that night, he had broken down for the first time in front of another person but there was also something else... For the first time in his life for a long while, he felt at peace and safely at home while being surrounded by people who truly cared about him and not of the Hero everyone saw in him. It didn't take long before he had given more information about his life to his older brother than what he had to his younger brother so far.

Link slowly calmed down again and checked the Triforce-mark on his left hand. It's right corner was lit to mark the Triforce of Courage, the one that Farore had given as she and her two comrades had created the lands of Hyrule. He let his hand fall and the mark vanish as he turned his gaze back into the stream. He was grateful of the nightmares having lessened through the years but some of them still popped their nasty heads up now and then. He didn't really want to think about those hellish dreams but he closed his eyes and let his mind fall into the depths of the horrors his own mind created from the experiences he had had throughout his whole life.

Link shivered and wrapped his hands back to his shoulders as the first bad dream came forth. It was none other than the one that gave him the worst nightmares. Dead Hand. That hideous monster of thin arms and blob of a body with overly wide mouth. Second was ReDeads. Those skin and bone living dead people that were wanting to eat him alive and to do that giving that blood stopping shriek. The Floor- and Wallmasters were next with their gigantic hands that were ready to squeeze him to death. Bongo Bongo with its enormous hands and torso but nothing else to be seen. Stalfos with their surprisingly good swordsmanship and full bone body. The Bubbles and Stalkids. The Beamos. The Gibdos and Poes... The list kept going on and on.

Link kept his eyes shut tightly while his breathing fastened. The more monsters he thought out, the worse the nightmares were. He had started from the hardest creatures from his past. Sure, there were several others too like ReDead Knights and Darknuts that he had fought only about five years ago. Yet, even though those were as hellish as Dead Hands and ReDeads, he had had the chance to actually get ready for them. He had had his fair share of hideous beasts and nightmares so facing few new horrendous monsters wouldn't make a difference anymore.

When Link finally opened his eyes, he was breathing heavily and trembling. He remembered how the nightmares had plagued his dreams for several long years after the defeat of Ganondorf and Ganon. He barely managed to sleep and even when he did, the nightmares were there to greet him. Slowly, as the kingdom was reconstructing and fixing the damages, he started to calm down. Though, the greatest help he had gained on the day he had met with the one whom became to be his younger brother. Start had been bit rocky and hard but slowly they had gained the situation they were in now. Talking to him and teaching him were things that slowly but surely pushed the nightmares away. Through the young dark Hylian he gained a close friend and most importantly, peace of mind. One whom had been used against him now stood beside him. And to him, that was the greatest victory in his life.

Link started to calm down again as he thought about his younger brother. That young Hylian was such a bundle of joy and curiosity. Always full of excitement and eagerness to learn new things. Even though they were equal in physical age, it was clear that the dark Hylian was younger by actions and mind. He himself had caught up with the gaps in his mind and knowledge but it had been long, hard and lonely trek. Luckily the Shadow had no need to do that journey alone.

Link leaned backwards and laid down to his back. He let his legs fall into the stream while crossing his arms behind his head. He stared at the sky and the white clouds. He enjoyed the blue ocean that followed no other order than that of a nature. The colors of red, orange and yellow in morning. Blue during day. And back into red, orange and yellow at evening before turning dark. It was always either black or very dark blue. He wasn't fully sure of the coloration but he liked to watch the millions and millions of small stars lighting the sky slowly but surely. With the moon coming up and going past the sky before the sun brought the colors of the sunrise from the other side again.

Link enjoyed the show because it followed same order without caring what was going on down below. Morning, day, evening and night. Morning, day, evening and night. The same cycle over and over again never ending. The clouds deciding by themselves of the coloration and shape along with whether or not rain would come. The wind being only a guide but not the master. It was simple show of power without anything disturbing or corrupting it. It just kept going on the same without exceptions.

Link smiled slightly as his thoughts turned into the future. He was to marry Zelda eventually and he waited for that, bit fearfully though. Yet, before he could go for such an important step, he had to make sure his younger brother would be alright. And hopefully getting married too. His older brother was already engaged with the girl of his dreams, Princess of the Swamp Kingdom. He chuckled a bit while wondering if his younger brother was going to marry a royal too in the end.

Link sighed a bit and his small smile started to vanish. He bit feared the life he was going to have after the marriage. To be a _king_ to a kingdom. That was something he bit dreaded. He wasn't sure he'd be good one or if he'd have what it took for such a position. Sure, he was The Hero but how far would that lead him... He wasn't sure at all and that worried him greatly. It also brought another thing... He could say goodbye to his freedom and chances for exploration and adventures. Duties would take his whole life and he bit feared how much he'd have for his family after that.

Link knew the future was uncertain and unexpected unlike the nature. Sometimes he wished he could've just gone back to Kokiri and live by the nature's rules instead of the life he had. It would've been so much easier but he was no coward. He had to face what the future was to throw at him. But most of all he knew one simple thing... He had a family right by his side and he could always turn to them would he need help and guidance at anything at all. He knew he could call to them anytime no matter where or how far they'd be. They would come to him as soon as possible by leaving towards him on that moment. He knew that for absolute truth and that eased his worried quite a much. Even if he felt like he was alone with the trouble, that wasn't the truth at all. And would never be.

Link took once a deep breath and carefully raised one hand towards the sky. He knew he couldn't touch any of the deep blue colors or the white clouds but he didn't mind. He just wanted to pretend for a while. To fool his own mind for a short moment. It wasn't much but it was something he could do when he was alone in the forest.

Link smiled a bit as he "petted" one of the cloud formations. From there he moved his hand to another one and followed its edge. With a sigh he let his hand fall to his chest after that. He remembered how he used to search for different kind of shapes in the clouds with Saria when they were kids. Now she was the Forest Sage and he was the Hero. They couldn't really spend time together anymore. It was very rare chances when they could catch up and talk about the past. He knew he could've picked the play with his brothers but he wasn't sure they'd be up for that. His younger brother maybe but he knew his older brother was bit too impatient for something like this. Sure the older Shadow was childish sometimes but...

Link sighed again and sat up. He pulled his feet out of the water and stood up. After that he started to follow the river downwards while walking in the water. For now, as a Knight, he had all the rights to be one of those whom guarded the kingdom. He could go and do as he pleased but he knew that was to change on the day he'd get married. He tried to enjoy as much as possible of the time he still had as a free Hero but with each passing day, the end of his current ways were coming closer.

Link walked forward while keeping his hands in his pants' pockets and being bit slouched forward. He didn't know where the river would end but he didn't care either. He knew he wouldn't follow it to end. The time just wasn't on his side. He had thought about taking few days off like so many times before but there were people who waited for him to come back. He couldn't betray them like that. Before he shared the room, he had left a slight note to Zelda. Just telling he'd handle some things at Hyrule's border and he didn't know when he'd exactly come back. It had been easy and he hadn't fully lied either. Now there was two he had to explain his goings and comings. That was the reason his time spend alone was shorter and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

In all reality Link just wanted to run away and never look back. Deep inside he was scared. Even though he wasn't that seven year old kid anymore, it would still be there because he had never fully grown up the right way. Sometimes he wanted to slash at something, to kill someone but there was no monsters to fight. He had been at his older brother's kingdom's area more often than not and that certainly was starting to show in the amount of the monsters. Those beasts were actually much wiser and stronger than what he had learned to deal with but it didn't take long before he outdid all of them. And with his older brother and the other Hyrule's Hero by him, the number of the creatures was steadily dropping. It was hard to find a decent fight even from there. A fight where he had the rights to _kill_.

Link knew he wasn't meant to think like that. It wasn't the way of a Hero. But he couldn't care less. He had been fighting for his own life for longer than he wanted to admit. He knew that everyone knew of this but no-one dared to think about the real danger he had been in. One wrong move and he would've been dead for good. He had been lucky since he had slowly gotten from easy enemies into hard ones. Still, it didn't take the danger nor the hardness of the fights off. It wasn't just the physique nor the skill. It was also the mind that was at stake. Out of all of the fights in his life, the hardest ones were against Volvagia and his not-yet-my-younger-brother-shadow Dark Link. After that was the two witches, Kotake and Koume, along with Ganondorf himself. The first one of these was his friend. Rest were real people and that was bit too much for him. Yet, he knew he couldn't back off. It was either him or them.

Still, Link couldn't help but think if things could've gone differently. If there had been a way to knock some sense into Volvagia's head. Or to talk his Shadow around and get him to follow him. Or to get the witch sisters to leave their evil ways off. Or to reason with Ganondorf without needing to fight. Yet, he was quite certain that no matter how many chances he'd get, he wouldn't be able to handle the situation at any other way than what it had gone.

Link stopped walking as the small river ended into about meter long fall. He looked around from his higher place but there was nothing that implied for a danger. He sighed bit defeated since he had bit wished to have something different. Sure, he had come there just to be but at the same time the thoughts were bringing up his wish for a good battle. He chuckled a bit and shook his head before turning around. Not today. Today he was going to stay away from everyone and everything.

Link left back to where he had started. He moved as slowly as before with the water splashing around his feet. He felt bit confused and unnerved since he hadn't heard or seen any of animals. Not even of birds. That brought slight fear of monsters but then again, they weren't that of far from a dead forest he knew to be around there further forward. Maybe the area just was bit too close to that place for the animals.

Link decided to leave it off of his notion. He'd check it some other day. Maybe even with his brothers along. But now was not the time. Now he was there to let his mind free and not think of anything at all. Yet, he soon chuckled a bit. There was no chances one could be without any kind of thoughts for long. There always was something to think about even if people didn't realize it. Still, he himself had learned to act first and think later since the monsters didn't really give him time to do other than adjust and fight. It was mainly the reason he sometimes over-thought about some things when he had actual chance to think. His older brother had pointed that out to him now and then. He remembered very clearly his brother's line about the topic: _I think you're reading far too much into everything, trying to second guess everyone's next move, their thoughts and then you're trying to defend yourself against stuff they haven't even said or done!_ He knew that even though his brother's words were sometimes bit harsh, he always meant good by them. Just trying to help the best way he could.

Link chuckled as he thought about that line. It was so true on him and he was trying to get off of doing it. Yet, he had to admit he still fell victim of the situation. Thinking way too far into one thing or another and ending up into wrong conclusion. Luckily so far he hadn't given any of hint out of this bad habit of his to anyone other than to his older brother. The said older brother was good at listening and he picked up the right things from there.

Link didn't know if it was just a Shadow thing or what, but he was grateful of it. Both of his brothers were good at noticing things that were left unsaid or undone. That helped him a lot. They both tried to pick the topics up now and then. Sometimes he just wasn't ready to confront things, other times he needed someone to listen and understand. And for that his brothers were of great help. And this brought him to his next topic.

Link was going to request both of his brothers as his advisors once he'd become the king. He wasn't sure whether or not his brothers would accept but he truly wished they'd take the honor. Sure, it wasn't normal for the king to have _two_ advisors but it wasn't unheard of either. And he sure as hell wouldn't put his brothers one over the other. They would be equal in their position and that was final. He wouldn't take any of other word for it and he sure wouldn't allow someone put them one under the other's rule. Not a chance.

Yet, Link knew the information and guidance he'd need from his brothers would be different. His older brother was more on the line of fighting so he'd inquire for possible fight strategies and such. His younger brother was more on the line of peace and talking things through which was the reason he'd go for him if he needed help on the line of writing a letter or keeping the meeting calm. And, of course, in some situation he'd inquire help from both of his brothers.

When Link finally returned to the area where he had left to follow the stream, he sat to the grass and laid down to his back. He allowed his mind to fall silent as he just watched the sky and the clouds. He listened to the wind and the stream since no other sound was heard in there. He just relaxed and calmed down.

Link hadn't taken any of food along since he had thought to gather what he needed from the nature but he didn't feel like it. He wasn't hungry nor was he interested to lose his time and strength into something as trivial as that. He had thought to spend few days there but since he had changed that plan in the very morning, he hadn't taken anything along for eating. It wasn't the first time he made a choice to skip all meals from a day. He had done that a lot when he had been on his quest. In these days he didn't have to be hungry but sometimes he just wanted to remind himself of how it felt.

The quest Link had gone through hadn't been easy one. The people hadn't thought of him as a Hero back then. The only reason they asked for help from him was the fact that he carried a sword and shield. It was only because he helped and did all he could to save the lands that the people actually shared their food and home with him. It wasn't much and it wasn't that of often but it had kept him alive. Most of the time he had had to go with what he had and could get from the dying lands. This often left him going hungry with lack of sleep and rare shelter from the weather. Still, what drove him forward was what he believed to be right. To fight for the kingdom of Hyrule. To save those whom were his childhood friends and eventually Sages. To save the Princess whom he had fallen in love from the first sight. To save the different races he had gotten to know. But even with all this, there was also the part of revenge.

Link's first part of revenge was for the Great Deku Tree. Next went for the different races since Ganondorf had endangered their safety on harsh ways to get what he wanted. From there came Volvagia, the dragon friend from his past. Last but not least was for the young dark Hylian. There were others too but these were the most important to him. Even when everyone said he fought for what was right, vengeance was strong part of his actions. And he would not deny it.

Link sighed heavily and crossed his arms behind his head. With the hells from his past and the fears of his future, he couldn't dismiss the fact that he was actually feeling quite calm and happy. The kingdom was in peace, the people were happy and safe. He had managed that and he knew he could be proud of his doings. Still, the greatest pride he took was of his family. His brothers that had their home kingdoms going against them but changing their reputation around to become accepted and cared of. His girlfriend and eventually to be wife whom ruled over the kingdom strongly and justly. His friends that held their title of a Sage proudly and helping their own people as well as whole Hyrule the best way they could. SDP, his older brother's eventually to be wife, was kind and caring with strong will and sense of justice. He couldn't be more proud to be part of this family even if he tried.

Link took once a deep breath and let it out slowly while closing his eyes. He was feeling surprisingly calm and collected at the moment. It was rare considering how many times he hadn't been able to fully relax during his times alone. Before he couldn't shut his mind or leave his worries behind but now he felt like he didn't even need more than this one simple day. He smiled while opening his eyes and looking at the sky. This had been what he had tried to achieve so many times but never been able. Days had just gone by with him worrying, crying and almost striking at anything on his path. Now... Now he felt like he could take on anything and get through it victoriously.

Link frowned a bit as he wondered what had changed so dramatically to give the peace of mind he had dreamed of for so long. The first thought went to his younger brother but that wasn't the reason. Even then he hadn't been able to calm down since the dark Hylian had needed an older brother to help and look after him. That hadn't given him the chance he had hoped for. Second was with Zelda but he soon shook his head. She was the queen and they still didn't really have that of much time together. And he worried himself sick for her safety nearly constantly. Third went to Epona but the mare had been by his side as long as he could remember. The horse had gone through so much with him that he sometimes wondered if she was as worried and restless as he was.

Link grinned when he found his answer. His older brother. That Half-Shadow had given him what he had needed the most. Acceptance and allowing him to be as vulnerable as anyone else. Ever since the older dark Hylian had called him as brother, he had been there for him. Not even once has he pushed him away. He's been persistent and not backing off even once when he's realized that his younger brother _seriously_ needed to talk to someone.

That what has helped the most, Link realized, has been all the listening his older brother has done. He knew he broke down probably more often than his younger brother but his older brother just held him and let him talk. Just getting it all out and knowing that the other one understood, accepted and _wanted_ to help... That was all he ever needed. The acceptance and love he gained was what eventually pulled him through. He wasn't sure if he ever could thank his brother the right way but he would try.

Link knew that his older brother once told him that he had saved him. It had been something bit confusing until his brother explained: By saving their youngest brother and by their youngest brother helping and saving their oldest brother, he had saved his older brother too. Without the youngest, there wouldn't be the oldest either. It had taken a moment but he had finally understood it. It was just simply by paying the good things forward and helping the best way possible.

Link chuckled while jumping up to his feet. The sky was starting to change colors to indicate the fall of evening. He looked once around him before heading back to his actual things. At there he changed clothes, took his weapons, checked that all was well and left back towards the castle. It had been a very long time since he had felt this calm and collected.

Link snuck back into the castle late at that evening. He made sure that the kitchen was empty before he went into there. Luckily he didn't have to work his first part of the plan from the very beginning since it would've taken him hour or few and someone could've come to check on things by then. So, he worked swiftly while making sure of not leaving any of notion about him having been there... Except for the fact of some pieces of different foods being gone.

Once Link had checked he had everything he needed along, he checked one last time around himself and left the kitchen after that. He snuck through the secret ways to stay hidden and to move bit quicker through the castle. He smiled as he knocked on the door of his room which he shared with his younger brother before going in by his own key. "Darky, you awake?" He called the moment he got inside.

The younger brother had gotten bit startled about the call and frowned but he sighed in relief when Link came in. "Where have you been whole day?" He inquired straight off while sitting on the bed and staring at the Hero. He frowned a bit at the tray but all of the things on it was hidden under few cloths.

Link grinned as he placed the tray down to Darky's night table and sat down next to his brother. Right after that, without having answered to the question yet, he hugged the dark Hylian tightly. "I love you, little brother. Before, now and forever. You do know this, right?" He told gently but firmly.

The Half-Shadow was quite startled and it took a short moment before he returned the hold and nodded. "Y-yeah... I do." He half mumbled while feeling actually confused about the situation.

Link pulled off but he was still grinning a bit. "I know you've been worrying for me for the whole day which is the reason I know you haven't really eaten either." He told and leaned towards the night table. He pulled the two clothes off and revealed the food below. "It's all for you." He told calmly while smiling happily.

The dark Hylian frowned first but soon bit gasped as he saw the offered food. On the tray was stack of sandwiches, quite a big piece of sandwich cake (not of fish), a hot chocolate with the addition of strawberries and a bowl of berries. Darky blinked few times before turning to look at Link. "Um... T-that's kinda lot..." He half mumbled while turning his gaze back into the treat.

Link just simply grinned and shrugged. "Eat what you want. It's all yours." He told but that was the moment his own stomach reminded of being empty. He blushed and smiled sheepishly at the revelation.

The darker Hylian frowned before bit grinning. "Let me guess... You haven't eaten either, huh?" He inquired but the sound and Link's expression were already giving him the answer. "You'd better eat too then." The younger brother told.

"Nah, I'm good. Honest." Link answered while raising his hands in surrender. Darky simply nodded but didn't say word. He just picked one of the sandwiches up. "So, as to where I was tod—" Link started but couldn't go further as he found a corner of a sandwich from his mouth.

"You're gonna eat and I won't take a no for an answer." Darky stated with a victorious grin while holding the sandwich which he had struck into Link's mouth. Link blinked few times before sighing bit heavily but the slight grin on his face told that he wasn't angry. He took the sandwich and bit the corner off before already starting to chew. "We can talk once we've both eaten. Okay?" The younger brother inquired and Link just simply nodded.

Link ate couple of the sandwiches while Darky took one and turned for the sandwich cake after that. They pretty much shared the bowl of berries. After that the Half-Shadow picked up the mug, took a good position on the bed and turned his gaze into Link. "So, talk. Where were you today and why didn't you give me any of heads-up?" He inquired while feeling tad hurt of Link's actions.

Link took once a deep breath, fetched a pillow from next to his brother and put it against the end board of the bed. He leaned against it back first and smiled a bit. "I took the day off to clear my thoughts. You know I do this now and then and that I take usually few days off." He started and shrugged. "I know I tell about these times to you and to Zelda but..." He sighed and turned his gaze into the ceiling. "I don't know. I just felt that I had to get out. I didn't really feel like I'd have the time to write a note. Didn't want to lose any more of time than needed. I kinda felt that if I didn't get the hell out soon enough, I'd break down right there and then." He explained and dropped his gaze into the bed sorrowfully. "I couldn't stand that thought." He half mumbled.

Darky stayed silent but he frowned a bit in both confusion and concern. He had seen his brother break down several times back at their oldest brother's place. It had freaked him out at first but slowly he had realized the situation. Being a Hero had its toll and it had been just a matter of time when Link would've needed someone to pick him back up. Luckily that someone had been their oldest brother during the first times but eventually the youngest had been there for his older brother too.

Link took once a deep breath before continuing. "I left into the forest. Headed to right this time. I spend the whole day there." He told simply but smiled a bit. "I never thought I'd actually achieve in my goal of getting my mind into actual peace, you know." He confessed bit quietly.

Darky frowned but he still didn't say a word. He just simply nodded and waited for the Hero to continue. Link chuckled a bit and dropped his gaze down but the small smile was still on his lips. "I realized something today." He told calmly and raised his gaze into his younger brother. "I guess it had been at the back of my head all this time but I just never got it out. Not until today." He continued and crawled next to his brother.

"And what did you realize?" Darky inquired while raising an eyebrow and watching Link coming close. He gasped a bit when the Hero suddenly hugged him and quite tightly too.

"I realized what's the most important thing in one's life." Link half whispered while holding his younger brother tightly.

"And what's that?" The Half-Shadow inquired while feeling like he should know the answer. Link stayed silent for a long while but eventually he whispered one word:

"Family."

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A/N: Gotta admit that I had hard time with how to end this. I had couple of other endings too but neither just wasn't what felt right. So, I eventually cut it off into here. There is probably going to be one to two more parts for this. Not fully sure, though.

Oh, and like before, the Dark Link that's the duo's older brother, is SDP's version of Dark Link. So, yeah, he's had huge impact in my Link's life.


	17. Secrets of the Hero, part II

A/N: The picture I have in use is from dA by an artist _lychi_ and the picture's name is just simply _Zelda_.

Also, another note: I do NOT own the characters or places unless said otherwise. Nintendo has the rights. =P Honestly speaking, all I have is the idea for the story, few monsters, creatures and bit of changing the places. Oh, and couple of OCs here and there. ^^; I'm certain everyone can figure out which belongs to me and which doesn't. =)

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**Summary:** Link is having bit of hard time and his older brother happens to come at that time...

**Notions:** I am still on hiatus / pause but I'm trying to get things back into working. Until then, enjoy of this story. Thanks.

Also, the title of this and earlier chapter (and few to come) is from Swamp Dragon Princess. I usually can come up with the title before I even write the story but there are times when the title just doesn't jump at me. This is when I need ideas from others. =)

I came up with this story during a rainy day. ^^;

Oh, and this chapter could happen before the earlier part.

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Enjoy the chapter! ^.^

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**SITUATIONS FROM THEIR LIVES**

CHAPTER 17: Secrets of the Hero, part II  
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The rain was pouring down from the dark clouds high above. The weather fitted well with his mood. He was tired, beaten and annoyed. The few days long mission had left him with few new wounds that would certainly leave their scars into his body. Few of those were still bleeding. He sighed heavily and stopped walking. He was already drenched to bone so few minutes longer in the rain meant nothing.

He closed his cerulean eyes while turning his face towards the heaven. Even with the time of peace the monsters were now and then there. Though, in these days there were less and less of them. In one way it was good but on the other it wasn't. It left him wondering what he'd do with his life from now on when there was no kingdom to be saved.

Link slumped against the closest tree and hang his head while staring into the muddy ground. He was a Hero so of course he couldn't say _no_ when a mission was brought up. He was a Hero so of course he couldn't show off how tired, sick or beaten he was. He was a Hero so of course he couldn't tell off the real truth of his quest and especially not about how much he had wanted to just scream and run away. All he could do was to have a smile on his face and claim that everything was just perfect.

He sighed again but this time it came out with a wavering. He leaned his back and head fully against the trunk of the tree and slid down into the wet ground. He couldn't care less since he was already shivering and soggy. He pulled his legs into his chest, wrapped his arms around them and let his forehead rest on his knees. He closes his eyes as he started to cry.

Link didn't know how long he was like that when he suddenly heard someone coming. He scowled while getting up to his feet, wiping the tears off into his soaked sleeve and crossed his arms over his chest while waiting for the person to come closer. It took a while before he recognized the footsteps. Suddenly he grinned and left to meet the once coming closer.

The closer he got to his visitor, the quicker he moved until he was running. He drew the sword out but didn't take the shield. "Think fast, bro!" He shouted with a wide grin on his face. He didn't even give the other guy a chance to draw the weapon when he already jumped and slashed diagonally.

The older of the two dark Hylians had been frowning as he heard someone running towards him. He blinked in surprise when he heard Link's call before he already gasped and backed away from the attack. "What the hell, bro?!" Dark exclaimed when he just barely had managed to avoid the slash.

"Fight back!" Link half shouted while going for horizontal slash after a short slide on the slippery ground. Dark was fully out of knowing what was going on but he managed to avoid the second attack, but still just barely. The muddy ground got the golden haired warrior to slide again before he attacked for third time by another diagonal strike. This slight slipping gave the darker Hylian the chance to draw out his sword and counter.

As the swords clang together, Dark had a chance to take a better check on his younger brother. The green, soggy and muddy tunic had few rips here and there which fully indicated for a sword strike. The white pants had couple of rips too but with clearly seen blood in those areas. The white shirt were ripped from couple of places in Link's arms and in those were also some blood stains. In the Hero's face seemed to be forming a bruise on his left cheek. "Did you lose a fight or something?" The dark Hylian inquired but it was done in slight concern instead of teasing.

"Something." Link answered, pulled off a bit and attacked by a vertical strike. Dark held his sword horizontally and blocked the attacks one after the other. The cerulean eyed one kept hacking his sword against Dark's over and over again. It was clear he was putting much more of strength into it than needed. Eventually the older brother slightly growled and gave quite a jolt by his sword.

Link stumbled few steps backwards by the move but he was very quickly gripping the handle of his sword by two hands again. He gave out slight scream and ran for a new attack. It came diagonally from down to up. Dark could've easily blocked it but he rather avoided it. The golden haired warrior growled and slashed horizontally while whole time moving towards Dark. "Fight, damn it!" He screamed while slashing again and again as he waited for Dark to counter.

Yet, for once Dark knew better than to give Link what he asked for. The dark Hylian simply kept avoiding and blocking now and then. But he made no move to attack. This only fueled the other's anger even more and his attacks became fiercer with each turn which only swapped him from strength quite quickly.

Eventually the expression of anger and fierceness started to melt into that of a sorrow. Link stopped attacking and dropped his gaze while gritting his teeth as his breathing became shaky and deep. "Link?" Dark called tentatively while frowning a bit. He nearly gasped when his brother let go of the sword, swayed a bit and started to fall. "LINK!" The dark Hylian shouted, dropped his own sword and dashed forward that short distance to catch the golden haired brother of his.

Link only sobbed while keeping his eyes closed. He was grateful of being held since he knew his own legs wouldn't have held him upright anymore. Dark kept a strong hold on his brother and gently lowered them both to the ground while pulling the cerulean eyed one to his lap. "Ssh, it's okay. Everything's okay. I'm right here." He whispered quietly while still feeling thoroughly confused of Link's way of acting. The older brother would've ran his hand up and down on Link's back but considering how wet their clothes were, it didn't exactly seem like a wise idea.

It took a while before Link slowly opened his eyes and took deep and shaky breath. He wiped the tears off and whispered very quietly: "I'm sorry."

Dark sighed bit heavily but tightened his hold around the golden haired one. "There's nothing to be sorry 'bout, Link. You wanna tell me what got you so out of it?" He replied while bit fearing that he wouldn't get an answer.

Link sighed heavily and shrugged a bit. "Just the lack of company, I guess..." He answered and closed his eyes again. He was still tired and shivering but he was feeling much better than before.

Dark groaned a bit while changing his position. Link simply gave a slight whine but didn't move even one inch besides what he ended up moving by his brother's shifting. "Listen, I really enjoy this cuddling but I'm soaking wet and my legs are starting to get numb so, is ther—..." He started but was cut off very quickly.

"I'm even more soaked to bone that what you are! I'm annoyed and angry! Not to mention beaten up! I'm _not_ moving an inch from my place and that's it!" The cerulean eyed one half growled and huffed in the end of his words. "I'm in the need of a hug and I'm gonna keep having that whether or not you like it." He concluded with a defiant voice.

Dark was bit startled and he blinked few times while turning his gaze down into his brother. Link was bit hunched and having his eyes closed. His ears were drooping while he was sporting bit of a scowl on his face. Not to mention that he was gripping Dark's black tunic quite tightly. "Bro...?" The dark Hylian called carefully.

Link tried to keep his current posture but slowly he started to take deep and shaky breaths until he hang his head and hid his face into his hand as he broke down. "I just want someone to hold me for a while..." He whispered with wavering voice.

Dark sighed sorrowfully and cradled his brother a bit more securely. "Okay. No worries." He replied quietly while starting to whisper gentle and reassuring words. Once he felt Link calming down a bit, he looked down at him. The cerulean eyed Hylian was still awake, his expression and posture was fully sad one and he was absentmindedly playing with the rim of the dark tunic. "Duckling... What's happened?" The dark Hylian eventually asked with a quiet and concerned voice.

Link took once a deep and shaky breath while closing his eyes and leaning fully against Dark's chest. "Things just got too much to bear..." He mumbled and shrugged a bit.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Dark inquired while gently kissing the top of Link's head. The golden haired one just simply nodded. "Then, please, you gotta be more explicit with your explanation." The older brother almost begged. "I can't help you if I don't know what's going on." He told even though he knew Link to know it already.

The cerulean eyed younger brother sighed heavily but stayed silent. "Duckling?" Dark called but he got no reaction to know if Link was listening at all. "What's going through that head of yours right now?" He inquired worriedly. The dark Hylian knew he could've easily just read his brother's thoughts but for some reason he rather heard him talk than think.

Link sighed heavily and slumped. "I just felt so lonely at there..." He eventually mumbled. Dark frowned at the answer but he made a quick conclusion of his brother meaning that he was just returning from a mission of some kind. "It hasn't bothered me before but... This time I would've wanted someone to be there with me." Link continued quietly before chuckling humorlessly. "It's not that I wouldn't survive on my own but..." He explained until he sighed again with his ears drooping even more if possible. "I guess I just have gotten used to the knowledge that I don't have to face things alone anymore..." The cerulean eyed one continued sorrowfully.

Dark frowned in confusion. "Why wasn't Darky with you at there?" He inquired carefully. It wasn't like their youngest brother wouldn't have followed Link on the heartbeat would he been asked to.

"He had another mission to handle..." The golden haired Hyrulian whispered. The darker Hylian nodded but he still didn't understand the situation.

"Why didn't you fetch me then?" He asked while getting worried again. Link shrugged at first but he did give an answer.

"You had told you had plans with SDP. I couldn't come up and ruing things off."

Dark blinked in bit of a shock. "You wouldn't have ruined things—" He exclaimed but got no further before Link's hand was already over his mouth.

"You know more than well enough that there's no chances that I'd come to bother if you and SDP got plans." The cerulean eyed one told strictly. He turned his gaze into his brother and bit softened the expression. "You and her deserve the chances to spend time together." He told with much calmer voice.

Dark still frowned in confusion. The whole situation didn't make any of sense to him. "Then why are you—" He started but way too soon he was cut short again.

Link sighed and shrugged. "Just my own idiocy. I let things crash when I shouldn't have." He answered and shrugged a bit. "I didn't realize how long the mission would be." The golden haired male told but soon he frowned a bit. "And what brought you over to this Hyrule?" He inquired bit confused.

Dark chuckled at the question. "I came to see if I could coax you and Darky over to my place. SDP, I and Ruby are pretty much missing you two." He told while grinning exultantly.

Link blinked bit surprised and turned his gaze back into his brother. For a short moment he just stared at him before starting to chuckle until that turned into a laughter. Dark blinked bit startled and frowned at the reaction he gained. Once the younger brother started to calm down, he grinned widely, nearly mischievously. "That's no hard task. At least not on getting me to come over." He told before turning a bit on Dark's lap and hugged him tightly. "I think Darky should be back at the castle by now too." He half whispered while calming down.

Link got up after a moment and offered his hand to his brother. "So, shall we go and fetch lil bro along, hmm?" He inquired while smiling happily. Dark chuckled a bit and accepted the help while nodding.

"Sounds like a plan." The older brother told but once he was on his feet, he hugged Link tightly. "You okay, bro?" He inquired bit worriedly. Link relaxed in the hold and nodded. "You sure?" Dark asked while still feeling concerned. The other chuckled a bit and nodded.

"Fully and thoroughly. I just needed to get some frustration out and, unfortunately, you just happened to be a perfect way for it since I knew for certain that I wouldn't be able to cause much of actual harm to you." The cerulean eyed Hylian told calmly. Dark simply nodded and let his brother free from the hold. The duo fetched their weapons and headed towards the castle.

While Link went to give the explanation of his mission, Dark fetched their younger brother. It didn't take long before the trio was heading over to the Temple where Dark lived at. _"No matter the situation or time, I always have people to count on to..."_ Link thought with a happy smile on his face. Dark glanced at him as he had unintentionally heard his younger brother's thoughts. Yet, that only got him to smile bit wider and wrap his arm around the golden haired one's shoulders. Link was tad surprised but inside less than a second he already smiled widely and leaned against his brother's side. Darky, noticing the situation, took his place from Dark's other side very happily. And the rain that had been pouring down whole time didn't bother the trio even one bit...

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A/N: And like before, the Dark Link that's the duo's older brother, is SDP's (Swamp Dragon Princess) version of Dark Link. So, yeah, he's had huge impact in my Link's life.


End file.
